Republican Legislators Talk About Cutting Shapiro’s 2025 Budget Proposal
“Hold the line at $47.9”—billion, that is.
That was the state budget message at a Wednesday morning press conference hosted by Americans for Prosperity Pennsylvania and Republican legislators.
Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) presented a $51.5 billion budget for 2025. With the June 30 budget deadline looming, Republicans pointed out that Shapiro’s spending plan relies on the legislature legalizing recreational marijuana and taxing games of chance. It’s unlikely those funding mechanisms will materialize in the next few weeks.
Shapiro is also considering pulling cash out of the state’s savings funds.
Sen. Dawn Keefer (R-Cumberland) said Shapiro’s proposed budget raises spending over last year by 7.5 percent, about twice the rate of inflation.
“It’s not only irresponsible, it’s reckless,” said Keefer. “Last year’s budget spent $3.5 billion more than what we actually collected from the taxpayers.”
“Who does that in their own finances? Who says, ‘If you bring in $200,000, we’re going to spend $300,000’? That’s just what this budget proposes to do.”
Keefer said the Independent Fiscal Office has declared Shapiro’s revenue projections “so far off course.” This year, the state’s projected tax revenue is $46.1 billion.
“So, this just propels our existing $3.5 billion deficit to almost $5 billion in one year,” said Keefer. When she came to the General Assembly in 2017, the budget was “just under $32 billion. And last year, we spent just shy of $48 billion. That’s $2 billion budget growth year-over-year for the past eight years.”
“This breakneck spending pace is going on while Pennsylvania is actually losing almost 13,000 people a year,” she said. “Pennsylvania has been growing older, smaller, and poorer, year-over-year for the past three decades.”
Pennsylvania has “the most generous Medicaid program on the East Coast, surpassing New Jersey and New York,” said Keefer. “No one wants to talk about efficiency or eligibility reform.” Attorney General Sunday’s Medicaid Fraud Unit found $11 million in misused Medicaid funding in the 2024 fiscal year, she said. And the Medicaid fraud level has “jeopardized our federal funding.”
And for education, “We have record spending, $23,000 (per pupil) on average. We spend more year-over- year, and yet we have fewer students. And 50 percent of our students can’t read on grade level.
AFP-PA Deputy State Director Nick Kerin urged the legislators to be fiscally responsible.
“This is about restoring the legislature’s power of the purse. It’s about building a state government that works for its people, not around them,” said Kerin. “So, let’s hold the line to budgeting that’s comprehensive, structurally sound, and citizen-focused.”
Rep. Tom Jones (R-Lancaster) touted a new way to create a state budget, the Responsible Budgeting Act. The current system encourages excessive spending during good years but leads to spending cuts or tax hikes during a recession, he said.
His bill allows legislators to focus on “higher value” areas, rather than reacting. The act includes a spending limit that trends with economic growth with a deficit brake, he said. There are limits on raising revenue, a reserve fund, and provisions for emergency spending. Any excess revenue would go to tax rebates and debt reduction.
“These are the things you guys do around your kitchen tables,” Jones said. “These are the things you do at home. We have to start budgeting and managing your tax dollars wisely. We have to stop the insanity and start being more responsible to the people of this commonwealth.”
Shapiro did not respond to a request for a comment.
