HARRISBURG – Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf said he wants a $60 million boost to state-subsidized pre-kindergarten programs in Pennsylvania next year.
The figure he announced Thursday will be part of the budget proposal he delivers to the Legislature next week. It would increase the state’s current pre-kindergarten subsidy by one-third.
Wolf initially sought a $120 million increase for pre-kindergarten programs last year, but signed a $30 million increase in December after the Republican-controlled Legislature passed a budget measure he opposed.
Wolf is fighting for another $30 million for pre-kindergarten programs in this year’s budget after a bipartisan deal collapsed amid House GOP resistance to the accompanying tax increase Wolf wanted to boost education aid and narrow a deficit.
On Friday, Wolf said that his state budget proposal also will include two mergers intended to save money and improve the service of related missions.
Wolf will renew his call to merge the Department of Corrections and the Board of Probation and Parole into a single agency.
A bill to combine the two entities passed the Senate in November.
He also will propose moving the eHealth Partnership Authority, which was created to enable the secure exchange of electronic health information, into the Department of Human Services.
The governor’s office said creating the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation would immediately save $10 million by combining budgets and operations. Combining the eHealth Partnership Authority with human services would save about $1 million each year, the office said.
