By State Representative Tarik Khan

This year’s Pennsylvania budget reflects values I talk about often: common sense, fairness, and the ability for more families to achieve the American Dream.

It is not perfect, but it moves our Commonwealth in the right direction. It is a balanced, bipartisan plan that protects our Rainy Day Fund, does not raise taxes, cuts taxes for working families, and helps Pennsylvanians pay their bills at a time when costs keep rising.

It reflects common sense.

At its core, this budget is about common sense. It creates student teacher stipends so future educators can afford to complete their training. It increases investments in apprenticeships so young people and career seekers can move into good paying, family sustaining union jobs.

It also cuts $178 million in wasteful cyber charter spending statewide, and nearly $50 million of this savings will be reinvested into Philadelphia public schools.

We also passed a bill I co-prime sponsored with Rep. Ben Waxman to ensure Pennsylvania does not tax reparations received by Holocaust survivors or their families. Protecting these payments is a matter of respect, dignity, and moral clarity.

It strengthens fairness and dignity.

This budget gives more families a real shot at stability and upward mobility. It delivers nearly $600 million into public schools across the Commonwealth so that every kid in every school has the resources they need to learn and thrive.

It also includes $125 million to repair damage from toxins like lead, mold and asbestos, and rebuild school buildings, using savings from cyber charter reforms to reinvest directly into classrooms.

For Philadelphia, the budget provides about $193 million more for our public schools this year.

Combined with previous gains, we have secured roughly $450 million in new dollars for Philadelphia schools since I took office.

Our city still faces nearly a $1 billion adequacy gap — and PA Democrats are committed to closing that gap over the next seven years.

The new Working Pennsylvanians Tax Credit puts real money back into the pockets of working families.

With nearly one million Pennsylvanians qualifying, the average benefit will be about $300 — with some families receiving up to $780 a year. For a single mom with kids, that means help with groceries, rent, child care, or gas.

The budget expands affordable housing, supports child care workers, and increases food assistance. It funds a $25 million child care worker recruitment and retention initiative to stabilize centers and ensure families can access reliable, high quality care.

It also invests $10 million in services for older adults through Area Agencies on Aging and provides an $11 million boost for food assistance programs for people battling hunger.

And while we did not pass a $15 minimum wage bill, we did raise the wage to $15 for 8,000 Pennsylvania home care workers and secured paid time off for them. This is a major step forward for the workers who support our older adults and people with disabilities every day.

Protecting health and safety

This budget protects what matters most, the health and safety of our families. It increases funding for violence prevention, disability services, and programs for survivors of domestic abuse. It invests in community based violence prevention that stops violence before it starts.

It supports hospitals and medical schools and provides $5 million for research into ALS, dementia, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s. It strengthens public safety by supporting the hiring of 2,000 additional police officers while also investing in proven prevention programs. And it helps counties and boroughs avoid layoffs so essential local services continue.

Supporting freedom and justice

The budget supports freedom and justice by protecting those at risk. It includes $750,000 for the Attorney General to combat human trafficking, an issue I have worked on directly through legislation.

Investing in our communities

The budget helps Pennsylvanians reach for a better future. It protects clean air and water. It invests $25 million to help public schools install solar panels, lowering energy costs for districts (and ultimately local taxpayers), and reducing reliance on fossil fuels. It expands funding for environmental agencies, supports job creation, increases help for small businesses on corridors like Main Street, Ridge Avenue, and Germantown Avenue, and strengthens support for Pennsylvania farmers.

Where the budget falls short

We must also be honest about where the budget falls short. It steps away from joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. It does not raise new revenue through adult use cannabis or skill games, and it still falls short on long term transit funding.

The delays were caused by Senate Republicans who blocked progress in failed attempts to score political points. Their obstruction pushed the budget until after the election and created uncertainty for families and schools across the state.

Our PA House, led by Reps. Matt Bradford, Jordan Harris, and Speaker Joanna McClinton, fought hard for minimum wage, transit funding, and new revenue options. Those fights are not over, but even in gridlock we delivered progress that puts people first.

This budget helps working families, invests in public schools, and makes our Commonwealth fairer and stronger. It reflects the belief at the heart of our work, that every Pennsylvanian deserves a real chance at life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.