HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) — The final push to a state budget in Pennsylvania is underway. The due date, June 30, is around the corner and lawmakers are trying to wrap up by this weekend and one group made a loud pitch for some of the money.

“Let’s invest in our children, let’s create jobs, let’s make our schools equitable and more than adequate,” Senator Vincent Hughes (D – Philadelphia/Montgomery counties) said.

A group called “We The People” asked lawmakers to properly fund public schools and higher education and help lower income citizens who have really struggled through the pandemic.

The feds are sending more than $7 billion to PA and the State is $3 billion ahead of projections. The group says the extra money could fix a lot of what is broken.

“You would think with all this money to spend, we could start to address the problem they’ve been ignoring. They’ve been papering over real budget deficits for 10 years, now they have been $10 billion to actually spend and invest in people. If they don’t do it, it’s just shameful,” Marc Stier, PA Budget and Policy Center, said.

Republicans have cautioned against spending all of the extra money, they want to keep a chuck of it in reserves for future years.