State lawmakers have passed a budget which increases funding for education statewide without increasing taxes.

The budget also adds funding for roads and bridges, and the state’s property tax/rent rebate program for seniors.

“It’s a very good budget, it’s a bipartisan budget,” said state Sen. David Argall, R-Schuylkill/Berks.

The $45.2 billion budget, was headed for Gov. Tom Wolf’s desk Friday night after passing the House and Senate, eight days after the state’s June 30 deadline. It is Wolf’s final budget as governor.

It includes $625 million in new education funding for schools statewide, and an additional $225 million in Level Up funding for the 100 neediest districts - which include Panther Valley and Tamaqua.

The budget moves $175 million in annual funding for the state police to the general fund, freeing up fuel tax revenue for roads and bridges.

Local lawmakers were most excited about the money that was not spent in the budget.

$2.1 billion will go to the state’s rainy day fund, bringing it to nearly $5 billion.

“This budget is a spending plan for both today and tomorrow,” said State Rep. Jack Rader, R-Monroe.

State Rep. Doyle Heffley, R-Carbon, said it will set the state on a solid financial footing moving forward. He applauded the budget for paying down $2 billion that the state borrowed in the past.

“Overall, this is a good budget. It is a conservative budget,” he said.

State Rep. Rosemary Brown, R-Monroe, said the budget is filled with smart policy and government initiatives.

State Sen. John Yudichak, I-Luzerne/Carbon, celebrated the reduction of the corporate net income tax rate, which he said “will unleash a torrent of new private investment to help attract new companies and new jobs to every region of our Commonwealth.”

State Rep. Jerry Knowles, R-Berks/Carbon/Schuylkill, said, “Many worthy line items were adequately funded for programs and services that will benefit Pennsylvanians across the Commonwealth.”

Knowles said the budget adds $2.1 billion to the Rainy Day Fund, pushing it above $5 billion.

“But in my opinion, we still spent too much. With economic forces looming on the horizon, I believe we should and could have practiced even more fiscal restraint in this year’s budget,” he added.

Argall said that Gov. Tom Wolf requested to spend ‘every last nickel’ in the budget.

Wolf’s proposed budget had $1.75 billion for K-12 education - while the final budget had just $825 million. He still celebrated the increased funding for education from this year and throughout his time in office.

“I’m extremely proud of what we have accomplished,” Wolf said.

Education advocates said that the budgeted increase will be a great help to districts.

The Pennsylvania School Boards Association said in a statement that the budget “will provide schools with the necessary resources to meet the needs of their students and communities.”

The head of the Pennsylvania State Education Association, the union representing the state’s teachers, said it “is a historic budget that will benefit the students of Pennsylvania.”

The Education Law Center, which represents districts including Panther Valley in a lawsuit against the state over school funding, said the increases do not go far enough to help create an equal system of education across the commonwealth.

Under the final budget, local schools will share $8.9 million in new funding, helping to close budget deficits which affected every local district, and caused some to raise taxes for the 2022-23 school years.

Funding increases for local school districts in the 2022-23 state budget:

Panther Valley, $2,485,685 (includes $893,067 in Level Up funding)

Tamaqua, $1,817,326 (includes $566,860 in Level Up funding)

Pleasant Valley, $1,078,970

Jim Thorpe, $927,629

Weatherly, $735,483

Northern Lehigh, $707,271

Lehighton, $630,129

Palmerton, $581,184