{"id":105158,"date":"2026-02-04T18:54:25","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T18:54:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/105158\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T18:54:25","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T18:54:25","slug":"shapiros-53-2b-budget-pitch-calls-for-investment-in-schools-transit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/105158\/","title":{"rendered":"Shapiro’s $53.2B budget pitch calls for investment in schools, transit"},"content":{"rendered":"

HARRISBURG \u2014 Gov. Josh Shapiro is asking Pennsylvania\u2019s divided Legislature to send more money to the state\u2019s poorest schools, bump funding for struggling public transit systems and raise the minimum wage as part of a $53.3 billion budget.<\/p>\n

To help pay for the proposed 5% increase in spending, Shapiro again called on lawmakers to tax and regulate slot-like skill games and legalize recreational marijuana. He also wants them to close a corporate tax loophole that allows national companies to reduce their in-state liability.<\/p>\n

Shapiro delivered his address Tuesday at the state Capitol, just four months after lawmakers ended a 135-day budget impasse driven by disputes over many persistent issues \u2014 particularly, how to pay for new spending amid a structural deficit.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all recognize it took too long last year, and that had real impacts on Pennsylvanians,\u201d Shapiro told lawmakers. \u201cBut we learned some valuable lessons through that process.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tuesday\u2019s speech formally kicked off budget negotiations ahead of the June 30 deadline, and Shapiro said that a meeting between all four caucus leaders is planned for Wednesday. After lawmakers failed to meet last year\u2019s budget deadline, Shapiro and the majority and minority leaders from the state House and Senate did not meet in person<\/a> until late October.<\/p>\n

In recent years, lawmakers have used cash reserves built up during the COVID-19 pandemic to make up the difference in revenue and spending. Even if lawmakers embrace all three of Shapiro\u2019s ideas to generate more money \u2014 which is unlikely, considering all failed last year amid heavy lobbying \u2014 it wouldn\u2019t be enough to cover new spending. As proposed, Shapiro\u2019s budget pitch would still require the state to use $4.6 billion from savings.<\/p>\n

Legislative Republicans pushed back against Shapiro\u2019s plan, saying it would spend down too much of the state\u2019s savings.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is our fourth budget from the governor that spends way too much, a lot more than what we are bringing in in revenue,\u201d state Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward, R-Westmoreland, told reporters following the address.<\/p>\n

\"Gov.<\/p>\n

Gov. Josh Shapiro delivers his 2026-27 budget proposal to a joint session of the state legislature, at the state Capitol in Harrisburg, Feb. 3, 2026. Dan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.com (DAN GLEITER\/pennlive.com\/TNS)\n<\/p>\n

\"House<\/p>\n

House Speaker Joanna McClinton and Lt. Gov. Austin Davis applaud as Gov. Josh Shapiro delivers his 2026-27 budget proposal to a joint session of the state legislature, at the state Capitol in Harrisburg, Feb. 3, 2026. Dan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.com (DAN GLEITER\/pennlive.com\/TNS)\n<\/p>\n

\"Gov.<\/p>\n

Gov. Josh Shapiro delivers his 2026-27 budget proposal to a joint session of the state legislature, at the state Capitol in Harrisburg, Feb. 3, 2026. Dan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.com (DAN GLEITER\/pennlive.com\/TNS)\n<\/p>\n

\"Gov.<\/p>\n

Gov. Josh Shapiro greets lawmakers prior to delivering his 2026-27 budget proposal to a joint session of the state legislature, at the state Capitol in Harrisburg, Feb. 3, 2026. Dan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.com (DAN GLEITER\/pennlive.com\/TNS)\n<\/p>\n

\"Gov.<\/p>\n

Gov. Josh Shapiro delivers his 2026-27 budget proposal to a joint session of the state legislature, at the state Capitol in Harrisburg, Feb. 3, 2026. Dan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.com (DAN GLEITER\/pennlive.com\/TNS)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 5<\/p>\n

Gov. Josh Shapiro delivers his 2026-27 budget proposal to a joint session of the state legislature, at the state Capitol in Harrisburg, Feb. 3, 2026. Dan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.com (DAN GLEITER\/pennlive.com\/TNS)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

Democratic lawmakers, meanwhile, said they fully support the governor\u2019s plan. Pennsylvania voters will not support Republican legislators who obstruct an \u201cunbelievably popular governor,\u201d lest they \u201cget run over\u201d by Shapiro,\u201d state House Majority Leader Matt Bradford, D-Montgomery, said.<\/p>\n

About half of the proposed new spending would go to the state\u2019s human services budget, which includes health care and food assistance for low-income Pennsylvanians, as well as funding for rape crisis and domestic violence centers, and homeless assistance programs.<\/p>\n

Shapiro is also proposing an additional $565 million for school districts with an \u201cadequacy gap<\/a>\u201d and $300 million more for public transit agencies starting in 2027.<\/p>\n

To support continued economic development, he\u2019s asking for the Legislature to approve a $1 billion infrastructure program, funded by debt, to fund housing, energy and other capital projects.<\/p>\n

\"Gov.<\/p>\n

Gov. Josh Shapiro greets lawmakers prior to delivering his 2026-27 budget proposal to a joint session of the state legislature, at the state Capitol in Harrisburg, Feb. 3, 2026. Dan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.com (DAN GLEITER\/pennlive.com\/TNS)\n<\/p>\n

\"Gov.<\/p>\n

Gov. Josh Shapiro delivers his 2026-27 budget proposal to a joint session of the state legislature, at the state Capitol in Harrisburg, Feb. 3, 2026. Dan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.com (DAN GLEITER\/pennlive.com\/TNS)\n<\/p>\n

\"House<\/p>\n

House Speaker Joanna McClinton and Lt. Gov. Austin Davis sit behind Gov. Josh Shapiro as he delivers his 2026-27 budget proposal to a joint session of the state legislature, at the state Capitol in Harrisburg, Feb. 3, 2026. Dan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.com (DAN GLEITER\/pennlive.com\/TNS)\n<\/p>\n

\"State<\/p>\n

State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta applauds as Gov. Josh Shapiro delivers his 2026-27 budget proposal to a joint session of the state legislature, at the state Capitol in Harrisburg, Feb. 3, 2026. Dan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.com (DAN GLEITER\/pennlive.com\/TNS)\n<\/p>\n

\"Gov.<\/p>\n

Gov. Josh Shapiro delivers his 2026-27 budget proposal to a joint session of the state legislature, at the state Capitol in Harrisburg, Feb. 3, 2026. Dan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.com (DAN GLEITER\/pennlive.com\/TNS)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 5<\/p>\n

Gov. Josh Shapiro greets lawmakers prior to delivering his 2026-27 budget proposal to a joint session of the state legislature, at the state Capitol in Harrisburg, Feb. 3, 2026. Dan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.com (DAN GLEITER\/pennlive.com\/TNS)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

He\u2019s also asking for $100 million from the rainy day fund to create a \u201cfederal response fund\u201d to mitigate \u201cactions or inactions\u201d by the federal government and $100 million for a state innovation fund to subsidize venture capital firms, clinical trials and university research. The latter would be funded by the sale of tax credits to insurance companies.<\/p>\n

But not all of Shapiro\u2019s pitches came with a hefty price tag. Some would rewrite existing law to create more efficient and effective programs and protections.<\/p>\n

For instance, Shapiro called for the Legislature to rewrite the state\u2019s child protective and elder abuse statutes, redesign a slate of underused tax credits, slim down the state\u2019s professional licensing laws and adopt tighter rules<\/a> on cellphone and AI access for kids.<\/p>\n

To address two major drivers of affordability fears \u2014 energy and housing costs \u2014 Shapiro pitched more than new spending.<\/p>\n

\"Gov.Gov. Josh Shapiro delivers his 2026-27 budget proposal to a joint session of the state Legislature on Feb. 3, 2026, at the state Capitol in Harrisburg. (DAN GLEITER\/pennlive.com\/TNS)<\/p>\n

On housing, he called for policymakers to cap rent increases on manufactured homes\u2019 lots, seal eviction records and modernize the state\u2019s planning code, among other changes. To address utility issues, he called on the Legislature to regulate data centers and negotiate a new consumer protection regime for ratepayers after an older version expired<\/a> in 2024.<\/p>\n

\u201cPennsylvanians can\u2019t afford another delay from Harrisburg,\u201d Shapiro said.<\/p>\n

And amid\u00a0criticism<\/a>\u00a0from survivors that he hasn\u2019t done enough, Shapiro is asking lawmakers to open a long-awaited window so adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse can file lawsuits.<\/p>\n

Groundhog Day in Harrisburg<\/p>\n

A handful of Shapiro\u2019s major goals carried over from his 2025 budget addresses. While many of the issues have some bipartisan support, lawmakers have not been able to come to an agreement on how to enact the legislation.<\/p>\n

For example, Shapiro called on the Legislature to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. While some legislative Republicans agree it should be increased, there\u2019s disagreement about the amount. (The Legislature last voted to raise the state\u2019s minimum wage in 2006<\/a>, and it is currently aligned with the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour. )<\/p>\n

Shapiro also repeated his call to increase funding for transit agencies. Last year\u2019s\u00a0impasse<\/a>\u00a0ended with major systems such as SEPTA in the Philadelphia region and Pittsburgh Regional Transit using funds allocated to long-term projects to plug their day-to-day operational budgets.\u00a0Smaller transit<\/a>\u00a0agencies across the state were not all able to do the same.<\/p>\n

His plan would increase the annual share of the state\u2019s tax revenue that goes to public transit funding by 1.75%, which would provide another $300 million each year.<\/p>\n

Shapiro\u2019s ideas for raising new revenue are similar to past budget proposals, though the estimated amount of money they could generate has risen.<\/p>\n

If Pennsylvania legalized recreational marijuana, Shapiro\u2019s budget estimates the state would rake in $729.4 million in the first year from taxes and one-time licensing fees. That\u2019s up from last year\u2019s prediction of $536.5 million.<\/p>\n

The annual revenue estimates from regulating skills games and closing the corporate tax loophole increased by roughly $300 million and $60 million, respectively.<\/p>\n

All told, Shapiro estimates these three changes would bring in roughly $1.7 billion in year one.<\/p>\n

Closing the \u2018adequacy gap\u2019<\/p>\n

Intense conversations over school funding began in 2023, when a state court ruled\u00a0that Pennsylvania\u2019s spending on public education was inequitable<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 so much so that it violated the state constitution. Specifically, the judge found that students in poorer districts, which don\u2019t have the resources to raise as much money through property taxes, weren\u2019t serving students well enough.<\/p>\n

The following year, lawmakers passed a budget that acknowledged a roughly $4.5 billion \u201cadequacy gap\u201d to properly fund these districts, and pledged to fill it using state dollars.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve spent more than $1 billion so far toward that goal, and Shapiro is proposing another $565 million in this budget.<\/p>\n

He also wants to increase basic education and special education funding by $50 million each.<\/p>\n

Spotlight PA<\/a> is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. Sign up for free newsletters at spotlightpa.org\/newsletters<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HARRISBURG \u2014 Gov. Josh Shapiro is asking Pennsylvania\u2019s divided Legislature to send more money to the state\u2019s poorest…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":105159,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[139,28,29,178,180,179,181],"class_list":["post-105158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-news","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news","tag-top-stories-stt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105158"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105158\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}