HARRISBURG, Pa. — Nearly $900 million has been added to the Pennsylvania Rainy Day Fund.
Pennsylvania's Treasurer Stacy Garrity commended the general assembly for taking action. House Bill 735, which was approved unanimously by the Senate last week and approved by the House this week, authorizes the deposit by clarifying the definition of "surplus" in the law governing the Rainy Day Fund.
“Continuing to build our state’s Rainy Day Fund is a smart, prudent way to plan for the future," Garrity said. "With this additional $900 million, our Rainy Day Fund will surpass $6 billion – putting our state above the national median.”
Garrity added that the $893.3 million deposit will be made within one business day after the Treasury receives a requisition from the Governor's Office of the Budget.
The balance of the state’s reserves will jump to more than $6.1 billion from the current $5.218 billion. That’s enough money for the Commonwealth to run for more than 48 days, above the national median of 44.5 days.
The Rainy Day Fund, formally known as the Budget Stabilization Reserve Fund, provides a fiscal safety net for possible economic downturns to help prevent tax hikes and cuts to discretionary programs.
An amendment to HB735, sponsored by Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R-Indiana), defines “surplus” as, “A fiscal operating result which occurs in a fund at the end of a fiscal year, whereby expenditures, including tax refunds, are less than the fund’s beginning balance, revenues and receipts and lapses during the same period.”
