It is once again the season of budgeting for Pennsylvania with its many agencies and departments. The past eight years have presented quite the challenge for the state with a Democratic governor and a Republican state legislature who were continuously at odds over the allocation of funding and taxes.
Many had hoped that Pennsylvania’s governor, Josh Shapiro, would be able to break this near decade-long trend of division between the executive and legislative branches through bipartisanship. However, a divided legislature with a Republican Senate and a Democratic House has further complicated budget talks, and Governor Shapiro has been left struggling to bring compromise between a bitterly divided General Assembly.
A fiscal spending year in Pennsylvania runs from July 1 until June 30 of the following year. The 2023-2024 budget will cover funding of all state agencies from July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024. The deadline for passing the 2023-2024 budget was June 30, 2023, and the planning process began Aug. 2022 where the various state agencies began crunching the numbers deciding what programs need more or less funding. By Oct. 2022, these changes were submitted to the governor’s office. Between Oct. 2022 and Jan. 2023, the governor finalized a spending plan and submitted it to the General Assembly for approval.
Normally, this process would be completed by Feb., however the transition of a new governor’s administration delayed the submission until March 2023. From March until the end of June, the General Assembly and the Governor’s Office debate, edit and resubmit the budget until they find a compromise by the end of June. In reality, debate over the budget continued well into the summer until a budget was finally approved by the General Assembly and signed by the Governor on Aug. 3, 2023.
So, what is in this $45 billion budget? The state set aside funds for the budget back in Aug., but they have yet to allocate the funds to many of the state agencies funded by it. The main impasse over funding allocation lies within the public school system. Republican lawmakers in the Senate want to increase funding for private school choice vouchers and decrease funding for public schools. This would allow parents to use tax dollars towards private school tuition. The Democratic House by contrast wants to use the voucher money to increase funding for public schools.
The current budget approved in Aug. allowed for an 8% increase in education spending, or more than $700 million. The Senate only approved the spending plan when Governor Shapiro promised to allow most of this new money to go towards school voucher programs. Governor Shapiro initially feigned support for voucher programs, however he has succumbed to the pressure from the Democratic House and has reaffirmed his opposition to the program.
Another aspect of education that has been politicized has been the funding of public universities in the state. State funding to support Lincoln University, Pennsylvania State, Pittsburgh University and Temple University has also been tied up in the budget negotiation process. As a result, universities could see a rise in in-state tuition that normally would be covered by the state budget.
Several other programs are also in jeopardy if budget allocations are not soon decided. Public school infrastructure funding, updates and investigations into school funding equitability as outlined by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in last year’s landmark decision: low income home repair grants, subsidies for public defenders, funding for emergency medical services, funding for hospitals, wage increases for new teachers and adult mental health programs.
Unless the budget impasse can be resolved soon, a delay in funding these programs may cause chaos in public schools, state universities and in medical services as agencies will need to figure out how to operate without the increase in funding. Despite initial bipartisan optimism, it appears as though governor Shapiro will suffer the same political headaches that plagued his predecessor, although this time he has the benefit of partnering with a Democratic House while working with a divided Assembly.
