Though Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell has yet to sign the state budget, Penn State and other state-funded institutions are preparing for the effects of the tight $28 billion budget.
Penn State intends to move forward with plans for its own budget despite the lack of a signature on the state’s, Penn State spokeswoman Lisa Powers said.
“The expectation is this was an agreeable budget to the governor,” Powers said. “I’ve been told by our legislative affairs folks that this is pretty standard. So at this point we’re not alarmed by it.”
Powers said the university will likely implement a 1 to 2 percent budget cut across the board for every Penn State department — both academic and administrative.
The budget, which was passed by the Pennsylvania General Assembly Wednesday, will allocate $333.9 million to Penn State, a mirror image of last year’s appropriations total.
While Penn State will break even from last year’s budget, institutions like state parks and public libraries will not be as fortunate.
Schlow Centre Region Library and libraries across the state will face a 9 percent budget cut in the budget that was sent to Rendell.
Schlow director Catherine Alloway said the budget cuts would create a loss of $18,000 to $24,000 in state funding for the library. The reduced budget will force the library to cut down on purchasing new materials, but Alloway hopes the library staff will remain intact.
“We’re losing $18,000 to $24,000 out of a $2.2 million budget — it could have been worse,” Alloway said. “That said, it’s going to be a very tight year. We’re going to have to trim a steak that already doesn’t have any fat on it.”
Alloway said the library has already lost 32 percent of its state funding. Since 2008, between $100,000 to $120,000 has been cut from the budget, she said.
“I feel that public libraries in general have taken a disproportionate share of cuts in an economy that’s obviously bad,” Alloway said. “All government services are being trimmed, but I think libraries were unfairly singled out.”
Another state institution feeling the hit from the new budget is state parks, which are expected to face a 7 percent budget cut.
Whipple Dam State Park has seen budget cuts over the past several years with a 7.6 percent cut in the 2008-2009 budget and a 10 percent cut in the 2009-2010 budget, Manager Don Coine said.
The state park will not re-evaluate its budget until the state budget has been signed by the governor, but budget cuts may affect some day-to-day operations, Coine said
“If there are any significant differences, then we probably can anticipate some minor service adjustments for the parks,” Coine said.