March 11, 2015

Acting Treasurer: Wolf’s Budget Would Require More Short-Term Borrowing

On the second day of budget hearings, Acting State Treasurer Christopher Craig told the House Appropriations Committee Gov. Wolf’s proposed budget would require an increase in short-term borrowing in the form of tax anticipation notes to front-load the disbursement of funds for programs like the increase in funding for public schools.
It was noted that while the budget proposal calls for an increase in revenues, some of those revenue streams will not become effective until 2016—a full six months following the budget’s normal effective date.
“It would be anticipated that there would be a much more aggressive use of short-term borrowing to deploy it earlier than when sales tax revenues would come in,” Craig said.
Last week, Gov. Wolf and the Treasurer’s Office increased short-term borrowing limits by $500 million to $2.5 billion to cover near-term obligations like payroll.
Written testimony and a video of each hearing will be posed on the Republican House Appropriations Committee webpage.
Testimony Available
Christopher Craig, Acting State Treasurer