Pennsylvania officially has a state budget.
Governor Josh Shapiro signed the $50.8 billion budget last night.
“Thanks to the smart investments we’re making and the taxes we are cutting, our economy actually grew at 5.4% – which netted us $1.1 billion more in revenues than estimated,” Shapiro said. “This allowed us to make important investments in this budget, and still have an $8 billion surplus at the end of the 2026-27 fiscal year. And this is the fourth budget in a row where we cut taxes. We didn’t raise them.”
Some of the highlights include $900 million more for education, a pension bump for some state retirees, and preserved the state’s $8 billion “rainy day fund.”
“The 2026-27 state budget is an imperfectly good plan that will keep Pennsylvania on a promising path for the future,” Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman said. “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 bill however does not address some policy issues like skill game regulation or legalizing recreational marijuana.
The bill passed in the House 167-35 and in the Senate 44-6.
