{"id":242276,"date":"2026-07-13T14:43:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T14:43:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/242276\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T14:43:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T14:43:07","slug":"pennsylvania-gov-shapiro-signs-50-8-billion-state-budget-that-excludes-legalized-marijuana-but-increases-some-retired-teachers-pensions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/242276\/","title":{"rendered":"Pennsylvania Gov. Shapiro signs $50.8 billion state budget that excludes legalized marijuana, but increases some retired teachers’ pensions"},"content":{"rendered":"


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

The legislation’s prime sponsor, Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee Chairman Gene Yaw (R-Lycoming) said it would allow development of natural gas resources in the Utica Shale formation, which lies deeper than the Marcellus formation, the primary focus of gas extraction for the last two decades.<\/p>\n

Yaw’s legislation requiring gas producers to fully plug wells with cement before abandoning them is also included in the Fiscal Code. <\/p>\n

Passed separately, legislation that would make building a new class of nuclear power plants possible is headed to Shapiro’s desk. House Bill 2017<\/a> gives the DEP the discretion to charge lower fees for smaller, safer and faster to build small modular reactors and micro reactors.<\/p>\n

Both chambers have also approved Yaw’s plan<\/a> establishing financial accountability requirements to ensure the owners of solar energy facilities can’t walk away without restoring the land.<\/p>\n

More education spending details<\/p>\n

The bill to fund Pennsylvania’s hundreds of school districts \u2014 including public, charter and cyber charter options \u2014 alongside community colleges and trade school programs, was criticized for sending money to underperforming schools. But, it passed the Senate on a 45-5 vote.<\/p>\n

“Over the past 10 years, Allentown School District, a district that I represent, has received almost $100 million in additional funding and during that same time period, their performance only gets worse,” said Sen. Jarrett Coleman (R-Lehigh). “Yet, we’re sending them even more money, even more rewards for that declining performance.” <\/p>\n

Allentown was among the dozens\/hundreds of school districts to receive extra dollars, known as adequacy funding, after the Commonwealth Court ruled in 2023 that the state funded schools unfairly<\/a> to the tune of $4.5 billion. <\/p>\n

Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa (D-Allegheny) defended the decision to devote another $565 million toward adequacy funding, which he said reversed years of “historic underfunding.”<\/p>\n

That money “(allows) those school districts that were struggling to lift themselves up. Lift themselves up to be able to provide the education experience for the students that was necessary and adequate and equal and fair across this commonwealth,” continued Costa. <\/p>\n

Sen. Nick Miller (D-Lehigh) previously served on the Allentown School Board and described challenges with 150-year-old buildings “filled” with lead and asbestos without air conditioning. <\/p>\n

“We know the impact that that has on a child’s success rate,” added Miller. “These kids deserve this investment. They deserve the opportunity to be successful with programs that prepare them for the workforce of tomorrow.” <\/p>\n

Four other senators, all Republicans, voted against the proposal: Keefer, Hutchinson, Mastriano and Pat Stefano, of Fayette County.<\/p>\n

There was no discussion in the House chamber. <\/p>\n

The school code compromise also contained several cyber charter policy reforms that build on and refine major legislative action from the 2025 budget. While Shapiro initially proposed a $75 million funding adjustment for cyber charters, no new funding cuts are in the final version.<\/p>\n

Cyber charter leaders previously expressed concerns<\/a> over last year’s cuts, saying any further changes to their funding would be difficult to overcome, especially for smaller schools. <\/p>\n

Last year’s budget also required families with students enrolled in cyber charters to provide proof of residency twice a year. This year’s school code reduces that to an annual requirement, aligning with proposals introduced by Coleman and Rep. Joe D’Orsie (R-York). <\/p>\n

This year’s update mandates weekly wellness checks for cyber charter students, requiring students to be visible on camera and communicating with a teacher, administrator, or school district representative. <\/p>\n

In addition, the code doubles down on preventing habitually truant students from enrolling in cyber charter schools, a policy first enacted last year. With this year’s update, cyber charters will no longer receive payments from school districts for going against state policy and enrolling habitually truant students. <\/p>\n

Cyber charters typically receive tuition payments directly from school districts for each student they enroll. <\/p>\n

The code outlines new procedures for “educational best interest” hearings for truant students who wish to transfer, during which a judge will consider academic performance, student safety, disciplinary history, and chances of success when deciding if a student may enroll in a cyber charter.<\/p>\n

Republican lawmakers and cyber charter leaders have said blocking truant students from enrolling in cyber charters limits families’ access to school choice. <\/p>\n

What’s not in the deal<\/p>\n

Missing from the budget were a number of policies sought by Shapiro, such as a $1 billion “critical infrastructure fund” for housing, energy and school projects funded by general obligation bonds, and a proposal to raise the state’s minimum wage to $15.<\/p>\n

In his February budget address, Shapiro also asked lawmakers to tax and legalize recreational marijuana and slot machine-like skill games, which he said could bring in millions in new revenue. Neither measure was included in the agreement..<\/p>\n

“I think at the end of the day, there are people on both sides of this building that need to make a determination on what they want to do on skill games,” Harris told reporters Saturday. “We stand ready, willing and able to discuss that issue.”<\/p>\n

Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R-Indiana) said his caucus was “open to a regulated marketplace,” but that it wasn’t a priority during weekend negotiations. <\/p>\n

“These are slot machines and, if nothing else, they have to be combined with some sort of age-restricted environment,” added Pittman, noting that the legislature can still act after the deadline. “These machines are illegal and in less than 120 days, they will be leaving the marketplace.”<\/p>\n

Lawmakers were unable to agree on new sentencing guidelines for second degree murder after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled the existing law requiring mandatory life sentences was unconstitutional<\/a>. Unless a measure is passed by July 24, the courts will have to decide how to resentence 1,100 people currently serving life sentences on second degree murder charges without legislative input.<\/p>\n

Shapiro said he worked with lawmakers in the days before the budget was passed in an attempt to bridge the gap between Senate Republicans, who pushed to institute a 35-year minimum sentence in most second degree murder cases, and House Democrats who wanted to allow judges to be more lenient.<\/p>\n

“We’re gonna continue to work on this issue,” Shapiro said. “I’m hopeful that we can get there.”<\/p>\n

Democrats also failed to secure a new tax they sought on digital advertisers<\/a>, which would be levied from major companies like Meta and Google. They estimated the proposal could bring in $500 million annually.<\/p>\n

Republicans ultimately agreed to boost state education spending without restructuring the school district funding formulas, which a number of members had pushed for.<\/p>\n

The budget also doesn’t address public transit funding. The issue was central to last year’s spending negotiations, and was resolved when lawmakers passed a two year stopgap measure. But transit advocates have warned<\/a> a more permanent solution is necessary.<\/p>\n

Despite the budget failing to address a number of legislative priorities of the governor and legislative leaders, it was passed only a week and a half after the deadline set by the state’s constitution.<\/p>\n

That’s a major improvement over last year, when a spending plan wasn’t agreed to until November.<\/p>\n

How the remaining policy fights play out in the future will likely be determined by the outcome of November’s election, where Democrats hope to flip enough seats in the Senate to take a majority in both chambers.<\/p>\n

Issues like whether to legalize recreational cannabis<\/a> and how to regulate hyperscale data centers<\/a> have also already become central to the gubernatorial election, where Shapiro faces a challenge from Republican Treasurer Stacy Garrity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The legislation’s prime sponsor, Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee Chairman Gene Yaw (R-Lycoming) said it would allow…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":242277,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[21240,8433,744,33,28,30,29],"class_list":["post-242276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-budgets","tag-general-assembly","tag-government","tag-josh-shapiro","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242276","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=242276"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242276\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/242277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=242276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=242276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=242276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}