Six billion dollars. That is the difference between revenue projections and Gov. Josh Shapiro’s latest budget proposal. He’s proposing that we spend $6 billion more than taxes collected by the state. You wouldn’t plan to spend more than you make in your household budget and it should be no different for the state.
Because I am committed to protecting taxpayers and keeping the growth of government in check, I have two fundamental questions as I evaluate the budget and decide whether I can support it. Are we spending more than the revenue we are bringing in? And, is our spending growing faster than the rate of inflation?
As a member of the Appropriations Committee, I had an opportunity to hear directly from, and ask questions of, some of Shapiro’s top cabinet officials over the past three weeks seeking to justify the governor’s $51.5 billion budget proposal. It’s already a hard sell for me because this budget increases spending by more than twice the rate of inflation, and spends billions more than projected revenues.
With this being my first time as a participant in the budget hearings, I thought I’d share some of what I considered the highlights and offer my perspectives on where we go from here.
As an active airline pilot, I had a particular interest in learning more about the state’s aircraft and how they are used. In addition to the more than $600,000 in taxpayer-funded flights that Shapiro and Lt. Gov. Davis took over the past two years on the PennDOT airplane, the governor also had previously undisclosed travel on a State Police plane, for which, after our scrutiny, he has now pledged to begin providing flight logs. I found numerous errors and inconsistencies in the PennDOT reporting system, so this administration has some work to do in ensuring true transparency and accountability. You can get more details about the use of the PennDOT plane at my website.
Disappointingly, neither the revenue nor the budget secretary, or any of the other cabinet officials, offered definitive answers about what seem like vastly inflated revenue projections.
The governor’s proposal to legalize and tax recreational marijuana anticipates $1.4 billion of tax and fee revenue, twice as much as he estimated last year. His idea to tax skills games that are already in many taverns, veterans’ clubs and gas stations to generate an extra $370 million is five times higher than last year. It’s worth noting, governor hasn’t provided legislative language around his priorities.
As acknowledged by the budget secretary, the state has a structural budget deficit of more than $3 billion a year (i.e., our recurring expenses are significantly higher than our revenues), requiring the state to spend down its dwindling reserves and Rainy Day Fund (which, by law, is only to be used for emergencies or economic downturns), and at this rate of spending these balances will be entirely gone in less than two years. Then we’d be forced to enact large tax increases or expense reductions, so we must act now to restrain the growth in spending.
That’s why I want to use our legislative oversight to look for every opportunity to decrease costs by eliminating unnecessary programs. One of the areas I focused on during budget hearings was divisive “diversity, equity and inclusion” (DEI) initiatives.
Besides unconstitutionally and illegally institutionalizing racial and gender discrimination, many DEI programs now risk the state’s federal funding because of executive orders by the Trump administration intended to restore merit-based opportunity in government. Millions of dollars are being spent throughout our State System of Higher Education, our Department of Human Services, and other agencies for DEI-related activities, and I’ve asked for additional details to determine how we can end discrimination and cut costs.
The June 30 deadline for adopting the state’s 2025-26 budget is quickly approaching. While the budget hearings were a starting point, we still have a lot to learn about the governor’s budget proposal. As negotiations proceed, I’ll continue to be a watchdog for taxpayers and press the administration for answers and cost reductions, in hopes that the final budget deal earns my support.
