Yesterday the Pennsylvania State Legislature approved the state budget for the 2010-2011 fiscal year. The new $28,043,137 budget trims almost a billion dollars from Governor Ed Rendell’s proposed budget of $29,029,507. The new budget is an increase of over $243 million from last year’s much delayed bill. In fact, this is the first time in Ed Rendell’s 8 years as governor that the state budget has been approved on time. But the big question that the Penn State faithful want to know is, how will this new budget impact Old State?

The overall state education budget saw an increase of $166 million from last year’s, but higher education funding was flat-lined. This means that Penn State (and the other 3 state-related schools) will receive the same amount of funding this year. Therefore Penn State can expect to see about $318 million in appropriations. University spokesperson Annemarie Mountz said that, “given the current economic situation, we feel this is a good outcome and we are grateful for all the work done by the Legislature to keep this process moving.”

The newly approved budget still needs to be signed into law by Governor Rendell, and though it is not known when he will sign it, all indications point to him signing it without complications.

For all the details on the new budget, click here.

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