US EditionPennsylvania Budget Deal Ends, Erie Nonprofits Find Relief
The $50.1 billion budget ends a 135-day delay, boosts K-12 funding by nearly $1 billion, reforms cyber charter schools, and withdraws Pennsylvania from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.
- On Nov. 12, Pennsylvania lawmakers in Harrisburg approved a $50.1 billion budget, ending a four-month stalemate, with Gov. Josh Shapiro signing the bill.
- The budget had been due on June 30 and negotiations stretched into a 135-day stalemate, with the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania and multiple school districts warning of urgent financial strain.
- House and Senate votes carried the bill with a 156-47 House of Representatives vote and a 40-9 Pennsylvania Senate vote after all legislators recalled to Harrisburg on Tuesday, and Gov. Josh Shapiro, Governor signed it Wednesday afternoon.
- The deal boosts basic and special education funding by allocating $105 million for basic education, $40 million for special education, $100 million for school safety, and directs $565 million to underfunded schools, while cyber charter schools reform is expected to save districts $178 million.
- The deal withdraws Pennsylvania from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and includes no new revenue streams, prompting environmental groups and PAYBAC to criticize missed proceeds and tax gaps.
18 Articles
18 Articles
Pennsylvania budget deal ends, Erie nonprofits find relief
The Pennsylvania state budget impasse has ended after four months, providing relief to state-funded nonprofits that were in financial limbo. Governor Shapiro signed a $50 billion budget, which is expected to aid many nonprofits that rely on state funding. This resolution comes as a relief to organizations that have struggled to maintain operations during the [...]
There's A Path Forward For Marijuana Legalization In Pennsylvania Even After Omission From Budget Deal, Lawmakers Say
Marijuana legalization did not make it into the Pennsylvania legislature’s final budget deal, despite the governor’s push for the reform. But several House and Senate lawmakers tell Marijuana Moment that they see a path forward to end criminalization in the fast-approaching 2026 session. While Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) said in August that he wouldn’t “concede” on his plan to legalize adult-use cannabis through the budget amid GOP opposition, he ulti…
135 days late, $50.1 billion Pennsylvania budget earns bipartisan support
The last state in the nation without some form of a budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year finally has a spending plan in place. Gov. Josh Shapiro signed a $50.1 billion state budget Wednesday after intensive meetings between Republican and Democratic lawmakers in recent weeks. They had been deadlocked for nearly five months since the June 30 deadline. The budget, Shapiro’s third, increases overall spending by 4.7% compared to the previous year but …
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