Nov. 12, 2025
HARRISBURG – The 2025-26 state budget adopted today by the Pennsylvania General Assembly eliminates Pennsylvania’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), allowing the state grow; however, its overall price tag of $50.1 billion puts the Commonwealth on a dangerous path toward a negative fund balance and future tax increases,” according to Rep. Barb Gleim (R-Cumberland).
“I had to vote ‘no’ in the end,” Gleim said. “In just two years, this governor’s administration has gone from over $6.6 billion in reserves to just $200 million.”
Gleim cited recent polling that 78% of Pennsylvanians report experiencing higher energy bills over the past two years, with 76% worried about the ability to afford energy within Pennsylvania.
“General accounting practices are not adhered to when we ‘hope’ revenue will come from ending RGGI or one-time fund transfers and when we are budgeting future revenues, rather than in real time,” Gleim said, noting her constituents are not feeling the effects at home of higher state spending.
Gleim praised the expansion of Pennsylvania’s economically disadvantaged school (EDS) tax credit, which provides scholarship assistance for students’ tuition if they attend schools in districts without robust resources, but voted “no” to the School Code because it cut cyber charter funding again this year, totaling a cut of nearly $440 million in just two years.
“Cyber schools are not the issue – contrary to valiant social media efforts by the teachers’ unions. Our funding formula is broken, which is why we had to supplement schools, and spending is out of control without viable outcomes related to those expenditures,” Gleim said.
The budget includes an additional $1 billion to go through the original funding formula. Of the 14 cyber charter public schools, serving 65,000 students, four of them will potentially be shutting down their operations as a result of the budget.
Gleim voted “yes” to the Human Services Code within the budget because it focused on seniors and benefit integrity was a priority.
“The bill included important first steps to clamp down on SNAP benefit fraud and misuse as well, which I support because it will leave more for those who qualify,” she said.
Representative Barbara Gleim
199th Legislative District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Jennifer Fitch
717.260.6563
jfitch@pahousegop.com
RepGleim.com / Facebook.com/RepGleim