The following is a listing of executive and legislative action for June 30 and the week of July 3. Members of the state House of Representatives were scheduled to return to session on July 7. State senators were set to reconvene on July 8.

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Budget Process

Both houses of the General Assembly on June 30 approved a spending plan for fiscal year 2017-18 that Republican leaders touted as holding the line on spending, increasing funding for education and funding core responsibilities—including promoting job growth and addressing serious challenges facing Pennsylvania communities—of state government.

HB 218 passed on a 43-7 vote in the Pennsylvania Senate. The state House of Representatives approved the measure on a 173-27 vote.

The budget provided for spending in the amount of $31.996 billion, which GOP leaders in the Senate pegged at $650 million less than Gov. Tom Wolf's original requests. The budget projects a spending increase of just 0.2 percent over the current fiscal year, below the rate of inflation, despite “massive increases in mandated expenses” including pensions and health care, according to a Senate GOP press release.