After much negotiation and compromise, the General Assembly and the governor were able to come to agreement on the state budget for the 2016-17 fiscal year and pass it in a timely manner that will ensure money is appropriated on time to the programs, services and organizations that rely on state support.

The 2016-17 budget spends $31.6 billion, which is a 5-percent increase over last year.

A good portion of that increased spending is attributed to mandatory payments the state must make to the two public pension systems, the corrections system and the Medicaid program, which was expanded under ObamaCare.

The good news is we were able to negotiate the total budget spending number down by $2 billion from what the governor originally proposed in February.

That, along with the commitment to no broad-based tax increases, was a major accomplishment.

The increased costs in the budget will be covered by an expansion in gaming, revenue from newly expanded wine sales in grocery stores, expanding the sales tax to digital downloads, a tax amnesty program to collect money from delinquent taxpayers and increased tobacco taxes.

Although we were able to hold spending to a minimum, we were able to carve out more money than ever before for our schools.

In fact, public school districts will receive an additional $200 million in basic education funding for fiscal year 2016-17, along with a $30-million increase for the Pre-K Counts and Headstart programs, and $20 million in additional funding for special education.

The four school districts in the 183rd Legislative District will share an additional $1.6 million in basic education funding.

There is also funding for three classes of state police cadets, which will put 180 new troopers on the streets.

Veterans Homes are set to receive a 12.8-percent increase in funding, which will go a long way to help our state’s veterans.

The Department of Agriculture will benefit from a 5-percent increase in funding which will help continue various worthy programs.

And lastly, there is an allocation of $15 million to help combat the state’s opioid addiction crisis.

This budget may not be as “lean” as I would have perhaps wanted, but with any large undertaking, there were needed compromises along the way.

I am pleased we were able to significantly reduce the amount of money the governor originally wanted to spend and were able to take any broad-based taxes off the table.

In the end, we managed to “pay our bills,” fund our core government responsibilities and direct more dollars to areas such as education, all while avoiding a detrimental budget impasse like last year.

For more information on the 2016-17 state budget, go to pahousegop.com/201617budget.aspx.