PA House Republicans Respond to Gov. Shapiro's Budget Proposal


PA House GOP Leaders respond to Gov. Shapiro's budget proposal 


Following the delivery of the state budget address by Gov. Josh Shapiro, which has a total spend of $45.8 billion, encompassing a 6% increase in year-over-year spending and unsustainable deficit growth that will spend down the Rainy Day Fund and the current surplus, House Republican leaders called the budget a starting point that will need to be further negotiated:

House Republican Leader Bryan Cutler (R-Lancaster):
“What we heard today from Gov. Shapiro was a starting point. A starting point that will end in a final budget that reflects no one person’s spending priorities or legislative agenda, but a budget that is reflective of the divided government we have.
“But one thing is for certain: We will not abandon our core principles that have made Republicans the trusted fiscal stewards we are. We must work to prudently conserve what we have of our financial success, so we do not go back to taxpayers for more when they are already struggling.”

House Republican Whip Tim O’Neal (R-Washington): 
“It is clear why this budget must be a starting point: It is because this spending plan does not match the reality of what Pennsylvanians are facing. In short, the budget offered by Gov. Shapiro today sets us on the road with unsustainable spending to a place where Gov. Shapiro will need to increase taxes in the future.

“While I look forward to working with my colleagues in getting to a final product, what I saw today was a continuation of a lot of the unsustainable plans we have seen in the past. Once again, House Republicans will be the responsible ones and lead us to a better budget than the plan we started with.”

House Republican Appropriations Chairman Seth Grove (R-York):
“Gov. Shapiro’s proposed budget is a reasonable start to the process.
“There are some policy points that give us pause, but other initiatives are refreshing to see, such as working to eliminate DEP permitting backlogs and investments in career and technical education. However, I am disappointed the governor did not address our structural deficit or include enough program integrity initiatives to reduce fraud. I look forward to the next several weeks of budget hearings, where we will go through each agency’s proposals line by line and work toward meeting our June 30 deadline.”
 



 
Details on the Proposal from the PA House Appropriations Committee

• Governor Shapiro is proposing a $45.8 billion budget for FY 2023-24, an increase of $2.5 billion, or 5.9%, over the prior year.

• The Governor does nothing in this budget to address our structural deficit.

•  Over the next three years, this Budget eviscerates the anticipated FY 2022-2 ending balance of $7.9 billion. Additionally, the Governor then proposes to raid the $5 billion in the Rainy Day Fund to balance his proposed budget in years four and five.

•  This budget does nothing to prepare the Commonwealth for the turbulent economic climate many economists are predicting.

•  Given the demographic challenges we face in balancing the Commonwealth budget with significant growth in the elderly population and contraction in t working-age population, this is not the time to expand government and introduce new spending initiatives.

•  The Governor still needs to show us his new proposal for Education Fund in following the Commonwealth Court decision – he should have used this budget to call for a reconvening of the Basic Education Funding Formula Commission.

•  The House Republicans have led the charge in building the balance in the Rainy Day Fund in order to help address any future economic downturns. Now is not the time to significantly increase current spending and create ne recurring expenditures which completely exhaust the almost $13 billion in reserve funds the Commonwealth is estimated to have come June 30, 2023.

Read the rest of the proposal summary


The House Appropriations Committee will drill down on the budget proposal in several weeks of budget hearings.
View budget hearing schedule (along with videos of completed hearings)

 

Shapiro Budget Proposal Documents

General Fund Appropriations

General Fund Financial Statement

Proposed Tax and Revenue Modifications