While making several critical investments that will benefit Pennsylvanians at all stages of their lives, with this budget the Legislature has failed to take action to address some of the most pressing issues facing communities across the Commonwealth, including high energy costs, the critical need for transit funding and the ongoing housing crisis.
HARRISBURG, PA – July 13, 2026 – Today, after the Pennsylvania General Assembly passed the 2026-2027 state budget during a special weekend session, State Senator Nikil Saval (D – Philadelphia) issued the following statement:
“In communities across the country and across the commonwealth, people have been deafening, clear and uncompromising in demanding that the government put their needs ahead of the profits of billionaires, wealthy CEOs and the gigantic corporations that exploit our workforce and our lands. This year’s budget provides support for Pennsylvanians at all points in their lives – increased funding to retain child care workers, more funding for education and investments in teachers and staff, money back in the pockets of Pennsylvanians working tough to make ends meet, and additional funding for nursing homes. In This budget also achieved a key policy victory that Senator Hughes and I have been advocating for years: the creation of a public database to lend a hand track and protect affordable housing in Pennsylvania.
“But to truly confront this moment of incredible financial hardship, Pennsylvanians need their representatives to speak out as loudly, clearly and uncompromisingly as they do.
“The General Assembly has deferred action to combat high energy costs. Instead of regulating the growth of data centers, our government continues to recklessly encourage them – their spread across the Commonwealth is becoming a key obstacle to our transition away from a fossil fuel-based economy.
“The General Assembly has deferred action to fully invest in public transportation. Despite the continued activation and engagement of tens of thousands of Pennsylvanians in urban, suburban and rural counties calling for full, permanent funding for public transportation, we will face this issue again in 2027, when our timeline has become much more urgent.”
“The General Assembly has deferred action to address a housing crisis that is worsening year after year. Nearly one in three Pennsylvania households is cost-burdened, and our Commonwealth has a deficit of nearly 100,000 homes. With the passage of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, the federal government succeeded in developing a nationwide pilot program for whole-home repairs; our General Assembly has once again failed to reinvest in its own measures distinctive initiative.
“This budget could have moved the needle on some of the most pressing issues of our time; instead, it is a budget of a missed opportunity. We will not let that opportunity pass us by again. In the coming year, we will move to taxing billionaires and wealthy corporations. We will fully and sustainably fund transportation agencies across the Commonwealth. We will identify and grow new revenue streams capable of building the thriving, resourced communities our people need and deserve.”
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Pennsylvania State Senator Nikil Saval is a father, husband, writer and organizer representing Pennsylvania’s First Senatorial District, which stretches through the heart of Philadelphia. Saval serves as the Democratic Chairman of the Senate Committee on Urban Affairs and Housing and heads the Senate delegation to Philadelphia. He is committed to a Pennsylvania that works for everyone.
