Winners and Losers in Pennsylvania’s Budget

Pennsylvania’s up-to-date $47.6 billion budget includes major changes to how public schools are funded and a up-to-date approach to higher education.

But as always when a state must divide its constrained resources, there are those who have and those who have not.

Let’s take a look at the biggest winners and losers from this year’s budget.

Winner: Underfunded Schools

Pennsylvania has allocated more than $1 billion for public K-12 schools for the next fiscal year, including several up-to-date initiatives to assist school districts provide an equitable and relevant education.

The full budget deal includes less spending than Gov. Josh Shapiro requested earlier this year and invests less than public education advocates have said would make actual changes to schools. But leaders have maintained that the investments are a significant down payment on fixing decades of underfunding, and advocates have said the up-to-date money will be transformative for students who have had educational disadvantages because of where they live.

Winner: College Students

The changes to the state university landscape include a up-to-date board of higher education and up-to-date scholarship programs for out-of-state students or for those who take in-demand jobs after graduation and commit to staying in Pennsylvania.

As schools across the country, Pennsylvania colleges and universities are grappling with dwindling enrollment, leading to mergers and closures. Officials say the creation of a up-to-date board to oversee state universities — including charter schools, public schools, state-affiliated schools and private schools — make it easier for students to transfer credits between schools and assist schools Leaders communicate with each other.

Lawmakers from both parties are looking for up-to-date ways to boost Pennsylvania’s population as demographics continue to decline — and they hope those changes will keep more students in the state after they graduate.

“We’ve done everything we can to help Pennsylvania keep our kids,” Interim Senate President Kim Ward (R., Westmoreland) said at a news conference Thursday evening.

Future teachers will be able to continue to benefit from a popular scholarship program that leaders approved for another year.

Winner: Governor Josh Shapiro

After major missteps in budget negotiations last year that delayed a final deal until December, the Democratic governor has found his feet this budget season.

“We trusted each other, we listened to each other and we understood each other,” Shapiro said at a news conference Thursday evening.

Shapiro was able to avoid another ugly fight in a divided Legislature over proposed school vouchers, which he and GOP lawmakers support, amid opposition from many in Shapiro’s own party. But in sidestepping the issue, he again failed to deliver on one of his priorities that would fulfill his campaign promise to reach across party lines.

Senate Republican leaders have expressed displeasure at Shapiro’s reluctance to push for vouchers but have promised to raise the issue in future years.

Shapiro also has had the opportunity to showcase his ability to lead a successful, bipartisan budget in his second year as governor, and his name continues to be floated around the country as a potential presidential or vice presidential candidate if President Joe Biden withdraws from the Democratic primary this year.

Winner: Bipartisanship

This budget season has lacked any major showdown. A compact group of bipartisan leaders negotiated the budget behind closed doors, with little insight into the deal until it was released and quickly shipped from the General Assembly to Shapiro’s desk.

Pennsylvania is the only state in the country with a divided legislature, so no one got everything they wanted at the negotiating table.

“We did it without much fight or fanfare,” Ward said.

Loser: Commonwealth Foundation

The conservative nonprofit Commonwealth Foundation, which supports candidates and policies that promote school choice, has been eager to win for several years.

The group had hoped to pressure Shapiro and House Democrats to create a up-to-date voucher program, a long-standing priority for Republican lawmakers and school choice advocates.

In a bitter statement, the group criticized Shapiro for his failure to act on vouchers and said he had squandered an opportunity to enact “meaningful tax and regulatory reform.”

Loser: Legal Marijuana and Skill Game Regulation

Those hoping Pennsylvania will catch up with most of its neighboring states and legalize recreational marijuana will have to wait. Shapiro estimated it could generate $41 million in tax revenue in the first year and hundreds of millions of dollars in subsequent years. But that didn’t make it into the final budget deal.

Another potential revenue generator for the state also lost out as leaders put off regulating arcade games. The arcade-like machines have proliferated in stores and bars across the state and are now tax-free. They were also recently banned in Philadelphia.

Losers: Minimum Wage earners

Residents hoping Pennsylvania would raise its minimum wage from $7.25 — the federal minimum that all neighboring states except Pennsylvania now exceed — will also be waiting. No minimum wage boost is in the deal. Shapiro and other Democrats have long pushed for an boost but have struggled to gain momentum in negotiations with Republican colleagues.

Loser: SEPTA

Public transit will receive a one-time $80.5 million in state money for operating expenses, but mass transit systems are hoping lawmakers will revisit the issue in the fall and offer more funding.

SEPTA, which is struggling financially, will only receive about $53 million in transient replacement payments.

SEPTA is forecasting an operating deficit of $240 million this fiscal year as the last of $61 billion in federal pandemic aid runs out.

Republican leaders originally said they were open to setting aside money for mass transit — as long as it included more money for roads and bridges. But that idea was taken off the table just days before the deal was finalized, said Rep. Morgan Cephas (D., Philadelphia), who leads the Philadelphia delegation to Harrisburg and helped get some of the money back as part of the budget deal.

“One of the things that we’ve been adamant about, especially me as the chair of the Philadelphia delegation, is that we will not leave Harrisburg until we have some sort of down payment that will allow us to start discussions to make sure that mass transit is completed and that there’s sustainable funding,” Cephas added.

Co-authors Maddie Hanna and Thomas Fitzgerald contributed to this article.