GOALS FOR THE UPCOMING YEAR. TOM. YES, SUSAN. GOVERNOR SHAPIRO DELIVERING THAT $53.2 BILLION SPENDING PROPOSAL TO LAWMAKERS. REALLY, JUST ABOUT THREE MONTHS AFTER HE SIGNED THE BUDGET FROM LAST YEAR. AND REALLY, AGAIN, SOMETHING THAT A LOT OF LAWMAKERS ARE HOPING THAT THEY’LL BE ABLE TO IMPROVE UPON. THIS PROPOSAL TODAY IS THE FIRST STEP IN THAT PROCESS, TAKING A LIVE LOOK FROM INSIDE THE CHAMBER. GOVERNOR SHAPIRO UNVEILING A LOT OF THE POLICY PROPOSALS FOR THIS UPCOMING BUDGET YEAR. AND ON THE REVENUE SIDE, SOME OF THE REVENUE GENERATORS, SO TO SPEAK. IF THEY SEEM FAMILIAR, IT’S BECAUSE THEY ARE. HE IS CALLING FOR THE LEGALIZATION AND TAXATION OF ADULT USE CANNABIS HERE IN THE COMMONWEALTH, AS WELL AS TAXING AND REGULATING THE SKILL GAME TERMINALS THAT YOU SEE THROUGHOUT PENNSYLVANIA. THEY WOULD HAVE A CAP FOR THEM AS WELL AS THE VIDEO GAME TERMINALS THAT YOU OFTEN SEE AT TRUCK STOPS. FOR INSTANCE, AT ABOUT 40,000 AROUND THE ENTIRE COMMONWEALTH, THERE’S GOING TO BE A 52% TAX ON THE REVENUE FROM THOSE SKILL GAMES. HE’S ALSO PROPOSING $565 MILLION FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION. THIS IS ALL NEW SPENDING, PART OF AN EFFORT TO TRY AND BRING MORE ADEQUACY TO SCHOOLS THAT HISTORICALLY WENT UNDERFUNDED FOR MANY YEARS, AT LEAST ACCORDING TO HIM AND HIS SUPPORTERS. AND THEIR PROPOSAL HERE. THEY’RE ALSO SEEKING TO TRY TO OFFSET IN MANY WAYS, SOME OF THE DEMAND ON THE TAX BASE IN PLACES LIKE LANCASTER OR HARRISBURG, WHERE THEY MAY HAVE POORER TAX BASES THAT MAY NOT BE ABLE TO SUPPORT A SCHOOL DISTRICT AS EASILY. NOW, THE GOVERNOR IS ALSO EXPECTED TO TALK ABOUT SOME OF THE BIG POWER PROPOSALS THAT HAVE TO DO WITH THINGS LIKE DATA CENTERS IN PARTICULAR. ONE OF THE THINGS WE’RE EXPECTING TO HEAR FROM HIM IS THAT HIS ADMINISTRATION WANTS TO WORK WITH A LOT OF THESE BIG CORPORATIONS THAT WANT TO BRING DATA CENTERS, FOR INSTANCE, TO PENNSYLVANIA, BUT WITHOUT DOING IT IN A WAY THAT’S GOING TO SUCK A LOT OF POWER DEMAND FROM THE GRID. AND AS A RESULT, POTENTIALLY LEAD TO HIGHER PRICES. HE SAID. HIS ADMINISTRATION IS GOING TO BE USING WHATEVER THEY CAN TO TRY TO GET SOME OF THESE DATA CENTER CREATORS TO BUILD THEIR OWN POWER SOURCES. ESSENTIALLY, AGAIN, TO TRY AND OFFSET THE DEMAND ON THE GRID BACK HERE IN THE CAPITOL ROTUNDA, WE’RE EXPECTING TO HEAR MORE OF THIS PROPOSAL. AS THE GOVERNOR DELIVERS IT. WE HAVE A LOT MORE INFORMATION AS WEL
Gov. Josh Shapiro budget address: School funding, cannabis, AI
Updated: 1:57 PM EST Feb 3, 2026
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro delivered his budget address on Tuesday, focusing on school funding, cannabis legalization, AI data centers, a new anti-fraud law and other issues. NEW | We broke down the governor’s proposed budget. Read the highlights here.Budget resourcesBudget fact sheetKey excerpts from the governor’s addressFull text of addressCharts, detailed breakdown of the 2026-2027 Pa. budgetVideo below: Watch the governor’s full addressShapiro’s budget prioritiesThe governor proposed a $53.2 billion spending plan to lawmakers. This proposal is the first step in the budget process. Shapiro unveiled a lot of the policy proposals for the upcoming budget year. His revenue generators may seem familiar. The governor is calling for:The legalization and taxation of adult use cannabis in the Commonwealth.Taxing and regulating the skill game terminals throughout Pennsylvania.At around 40,000 skill games in the commonwealth, there would be a 52% tax on the revenue. An additional $565 million for public education as part of an effort to try and bring more adequacy to schools that historically went underfunded for many years, at least according to Shapiro and his supporters. The proposal also tries to offset some of the demand on the tax base in places like Lancaster or Harrisburg, where they may have core tax bases that are not be able to support a school district as easily.The governor also discussed major energy proposals related to data centers. He said his administration wanted to work with large corporations looking to bring data centers to Pennsylvania, but not in a way that would strain the power grid and potentially drive up prices. His administration is going to be using whatever levers they can to try to get some of these data center creators to build their own power sources, essentially, again, to try and offset the demand on the grid.Shapiro’s address comes just about three months after the last budget was passed and signed into law. That budget was more than 130 days late.Before Shapiro’s address, WGAL talked to leaders from the Senate Republicans and House Democrats about what their hopes are for this year’s budget.Lawmakers weigh inSenate Majority Leader Joe Pittman expressed hope for a budget that acknowledges the state’s political and geographic diversity. “Hope it’s a budget with a message that truly appreciates the divided government that we’re in, and how much this state is politically the most purple state in the nation, in recognizing that not only do we have political differences, but also geographic differences,” Pittman said.House Majority Leader Matt Bradford shared his desire for a smoother budget process.”We’re hoping they can overcome that dysfunction and we can have a better process. But I think, again, we’ve had a really good product. We’ve been able to pass a solid budget for the Commonwealth. But again, it took too long,” Bradford said.
HARRISBURG, Pa. —
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro delivered his budget address on Tuesday, focusing on school funding, cannabis legalization, AI data centers, a new anti-fraud law and other issues.
NEW | We broke down the governor’s proposed budget. Read the highlights here.
Budget resourcesShapiro’s budget priorities
The governor proposed a $53.2 billion spending plan to lawmakers.
This proposal is the first step in the budget process.
Shapiro unveiled a lot of the policy proposals for the upcoming budget year. His revenue generators may seem familiar. The governor is calling for:
The legalization and taxation of adult use cannabis in the Commonwealth.Taxing and regulating the skill game terminals throughout Pennsylvania.At around 40,000 skill games in the commonwealth, there would be a 52% tax on the revenue. An additional $565 million for public education as part of an effort to try and bring more adequacy to schools that historically went underfunded for many years, at least according to Shapiro and his supporters. The proposal also tries to offset some of the demand on the tax base in places like Lancaster or Harrisburg, where they may have core tax bases that are not be able to support a school district as easily.
The governor also discussed major energy proposals related to data centers. He said his administration wanted to work with large corporations looking to bring data centers to Pennsylvania, but not in a way that would strain the power grid and potentially drive up prices. His administration is going to be using whatever levers they can to try to get some of these data center creators to build their own power sources, essentially, again, to try and offset the demand on the grid.
Shapiro’s address comes just about three months after the last budget was passed and signed into law. That budget was more than 130 days late.
Before Shapiro’s address, WGAL talked to leaders from the Senate Republicans and House Democrats about what their hopes are for this year’s budget.
Lawmakers weigh in
“Hope it’s a budget with a message that truly appreciates the divided government that we’re in, and how much this state is politically the most purple state in the nation, in recognizing that not only do we have political differences, but also geographic differences,” Pittman said.
“We’re hoping they can overcome that dysfunction and we can have a better process. But I think, again, we’ve had a really good product. We’ve been able to pass a solid budget for the Commonwealth. But again, it took too long,” Bradford said.