HARRISBURG – The Senate approved a fiscally responsible state budget today that stands up for taxpayers, doesn’t raise taxes on Pennsylvania families and supports affordability and job growth, according to Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward (R-39), Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R-41) and Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Scott Martin (R-13).
Gov. Josh Shapiro originally proposed a budget that would have increased spending by $2.7 billion (5.4% increase) and taken approximately $4.6 billion from the state’s emergency reserves in the Rainy Day Fund. His plan would have required massive tax increases as soon as next year.
The final agreement negotiated by Senate Republicans cut more than $1.1 billion from the governor’s spending request and will not require any withdrawals from the Rainy Day Fund, setting the state on a more sustainable path and avoiding potential bond downgrades and higher debt costs.
“The Senate Republican Caucus worked hard to protect the wallets of Pennsylvanians by avoiding tax hikes, strengthening our commonwealth’s financial position and identifying more than $4.5 billion in unused funds to repurpose,” Ward said. “Senate Republicans fought for investments for our most vulnerable by increasing funding for nursing homes and childcare recruitment and delivering a long-overdue cost-of-living adjustment for police officers, firefighters and teachers who retired prior to July 2, 2001. It is important for Pennsylvanians to understand House Democrats’ rubber-stamping Gov. Josh Shapiro’s budget all but guaranteed a $2,000 tax increase for Pennsylvania families as the Democrat budget didn’t balance. We are pleased Gov. Shapiro and House Democrats ultimately understood affordability meant respecting the taxpayers who pay our bills by returning the money to hardworking Pennsylvanians.”
“The 2026-27 state budget is an imperfectly good plan that will keep Pennsylvania on a promising path for the future,” said Pittman. “Our Senate Republican Caucus protected taxpayers of the Commonwealth and kept the Rainy Day Fund fully intact. Through tremendous hard work we identified and pulled $1.5 billion out of the couch cushions of bureaucracy to balance this budget. The ultimate long-term solutions to our budgetary challenges are economic opportunity and growth, and I am proud that the agreement includes numerous policies to support families, invest in our local communities, and foster needed growth.”
“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 Pennsylvania families and positioning our commonwealth for growth,” Martin said. “Senate Republicans achieved all these goals in this budget. We still certainly have work to do in the years ahead to maintain fiscal responsibility, but I am grateful we identified numerous improvements to the spending plan Gov. Shapiro presented in February so we can strengthen our economy with pro-growth policies that will build a stronger future.”
Senate Republicans identified more than a billion dollars in overspending proposed in the Department of Human Services over two years, and more than $100 million in unnecessary spending proposed in the 2026-27 budget in the Department of Corrections.
Over the last two years, Senate Republicans have pushed to reclaim $4.5 billion from prior-year budgets, special funds and other accounts, ensuring this money can be utilized to support state government programs instead of sitting idle in government accounts.
The budget plan also provides greater efficiency and oversight of PennDOT operations. The agreement forces PennDOT to deploy an additional $775 million from the Motor License Fund to support highway projects and ensures transparency of how much money is owed to transit agencies from the Public Transportation Trust Fund.
Senate Republicans led efforts to include an additional $12 million for rape crisis centers, nearly doubling funding levels from the previous year.
An additional $565 million is included for the Ready to Learn Block Grant program, and Basic Education Funding will see a $58 million increase. Funding for Special Education will also increase by $55 million.
The plan maintains funding for the Educational Improvement Tax Credit program and rejects legislative changes proposed by House Democrats that would have taken away scholarships from students and limited future donations to the program.
$10 million in new funding is also included for Grow PA, a successful program created by Senate Republicans two years ago to provide grants of up to $5,000 for students who pursue postsecondary education training for careers in high-demand industries in Pennsylvania. The program requires a commitment for students to live and work in Pennsylvania after graduation, helping to address the state’s demographic challenges in the years ahead.
Career and Technical Education funding is also increased in the budget by $10 million, and $15 million was restored to a key Workforce Development line item Gov. Shapiro proposed to cut in his February budget proposal.
Long-term care providers would also see rate increases in the budget, and additional funding is included to support nursing homes.
CONTACT: Erica Clayton Wright (Sen. Ward)
CONTACT: Kate Flessner (Sen. Pittman)
CONTACT: Jason Thompson (Sen. Martin)