A little talked-about provision in the PA budget package passed into law recently, even without Governor Wolf’s signature. By law, the governor has ten days to sign a bill, or it becomes law without his signature.
This new dynamic scoring provision empowers the Independent Fiscal Office (IFO) to use dynamic scoring in revenue estimates. According to a Pennsylvania Business Report article published on July 6, 2021, “The amendment to the Pennsylvania Administrative Code requires the IFO to complete revenue estimates for policy changes with fiscal impacts of $50,000 or more. The old law prescribed IFO revenue estimates for policy changes with fiscal impacts of $10,000 or more. Nothing in the new law changes the IFO’s ability to produce static analytics. Instead, the amendment enables administrative officers to request that the IFO produce a dynamic analysis in addition to the traditional static one.”
The prime sponsor Rep. Frank Ryan (R-Lebanon), a certified public accountant, stated, “We have a number of issues in Pennsylvania that we identify as critical risk factors. Dynamic scoring capability would enable us to weigh the implications of those risk factors and determine the best course of action.”
Bottom-line: The ability to use dynamic scoring will better position PA in its understanding of how fiscal policy changes will affect the Commonwealth.
