Harrisburg, Pa. – June 26, 2021 – State Senator Art Haywood (D-Montgomery/Philadelphia) announced today that Harrisburg lawmakers approved the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s budget for fiscal year 2021-2022.

“As our communities recover from COVID-19 and its many repercussions, I am very pleased that funding from the state budget will serve residents in my district and across the Commonwealth,” Haywood said. “This funding will assist with diversity, equity, and inclusion at state colleges, gun violence reduction, affordable housing funding, and tax credit anti-fraud reform.”

The budget includes the following funding priorities of Senator Haywood:

  • Funding for Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education universities over the next 5 years for implementation of their new Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion framework.
  • $10 million in low income housing tax credits for the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency to fund affordable housing.
  • $30 million in gun violence intervention grants across the Commonwealth for a duration of three years.
  • A tax code amendment removing the sales tax from breast pump supplies

“I am very disappointed that the budget wasted a once in a life time opportunity from American Rescue funds to fix the leaks in the pipeline to opportunity. I will continue to advocate for legislation that directly serves our communities to address the multitudes of hardships our friends and neighbors face that have only been magnified by the devastating pandemic,” Haywood said.

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