As Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf prepares to hand off the baton to Josh Shapiro (D) in the coming weeks, he is opening up about his time in office, including his unsuccessful attempt to send out $2,000 stimulus checks to families.
Earlier this year, Wolf’s administration reintroduced the so-called “PA Opportunity Plan,” a $1.7 billion proposal he unveiled previously featuring $2,000 direct payments to households earning $80,000 or less, but the measure ultimately failed to clear the Republican-led state legislature.
“The money would’ve come from federal funds, it was free money just send it out, and [Republicans] did not want to do that. But then after the budget passed and we had all this money I said here’s another opportunity instead of using federal money, let’s use state money. We had plenty it’s not like we had to raise anybody’s taxes,” Wolf told ABC 27.
In addition to $2,000 checks, the PA Opportunity Plan also entailed $225 million in financial aid to small businesses, $325 million in healthcare funding, $450 million in conservation efforts, and $204 million for direct property tax relief, according to the news outlet.
Funding for the program would have derived from the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan that passed Congress and was signed into law by President Joe Biden last year. Funds given to states that are unused by Dec. 31, 2024, will have to be sent back to the federal government.
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A plethora of states had enacted stimulus measures and rebates using money from budget surpluses or federal COVID-19 relief funds. Those measures were largely aimed at easing the toll of red-hot inflation gripping the nation and rising prices at the gas pump — both of which appear to have cooled off a bit in recent weeks.
“$2,000 would be a really nice help. I don’t know why I couldn’t get that done,” Wolf added, per ABC 27.
