HARRISBURG — Billions of dollars for Pennsylvania’s public schools and social services could soon start flowing after four-plus months of delay, as lawmakers on Wednesday approved key elements of a roughly $50 billion spending plan to break the state’s budget impasse.

A concession to help seal the deal meant Democrats agreed to Republican demands to undo a regulation aimed at making Pennsylvania the only major fossil fuel-producing state to force power plant owners to pay for their planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions.

Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro signed several key budget bills shortly after they passed, approving hundreds of pages of budget legislation that had barely been public for a few hours after weeks of closed-door negotiations.

In a Capitol news conference, Shapiro called

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