HARRISBURG – Gov. Josh Shapiro has signed a $50.8 billion budget that was approved by state lawmakers over the weekend. The spending plan will invest $11.85 billion in education, increase funding for career and technical education by $10 million, spur economic development and innovation by $125 million, and invest in law enforcement, providing funding for another four cadet classes of the PA State Police Troopers and 2,000 more cops and state troopers on our streets. PA House Republican Leader, Rep. Jesse Topper said the approved budget continues our recent history of scouring every corner of state government for existing taxpayer dollars to avoid tax increases, cuts to government services or tapping into the Commonwealth’s Rainy Day Fund. PA Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman, Sen. Scott Martin said going into this year’s budget negotiations, our top priorities were protecting our fiscal stability, setting up the state to avoid devastating tax increases on PA families and positioning our Commonwealth for growth. He added that Senate Republicans achieved all these goals in this budget, but we still certainly have work to do in the years ahead to maintain fiscal responsibility. The budget does not include any tax increases or new revenue sources. The final budget figure is nearly $3 billion less than the amount requested by the governor.
