Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett proposed keeping funding for Penn’s School of Veterinary Medicine stable in fiscal year 2015.
The embattled Republican governor proposed an appropriation of $28 million in his budget unveiled Tuesday morning, level with Penn Vet’s final available budget this fiscal year, which ends on June 30. The funds are not set in stone: The budget will have to pass the Republican-held legislature before it is finalized. The final budgets are usually signed midsummer.
In addition, the Vet School’s Center for Infectious Disease would receive $261,000 from the state government if the budget passes untouched.
“The University community thanks Gov. Corbett for prioritizing education in this budget and supporting the only veterinary school in Pennsylvania,” the Office of Government and Community Affairs said in a statement. “We look forward to continuing to serve the Commonwealth and to working with the governor and the General Assembly as the budget process moves forward.”
This may be Penn’s last year working with Corbett, who has been called the most vulnerable incumbent governor in the country as he gears up for a re-election fight. His approval ratings have hovered in the mid-30s, and several polls show him losing to his Democratic challengers. However, no incumbent governor has ever lost a re-election bid in Pennsylvania, and such a large field of challengers may leave a Democratic nominee cash-strapped and exhausted by November.
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