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Local lawmakers react with skepticism to Shapiro budget proposal

By Brad Hundt 3 min read
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Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro delivers his budget address for the 2025-26 fiscal year to a joint session of the state House and Senate at the Capitol is seen, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025, in Harrisburg, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

In his annual budget address, Gov. Josh Shapiro said Pennsylvania is “on the rise,” but the proposed $51.5 billion budget got a rise out of local Republican lawmakers who characterized it as being top-heavy on spending.

“The budget proposal is more of the same,” said state Rep. Tim O’Neal, the House minority whip whose district includes the city of Washington. He said the budget put forward by Shapiro, a Democrat, “spends too much, eliminates our budget surplus and creates taxes.”

O’Neal said the budget would increase spending by 7.5% “and is not sustainable.”

“The only two options we have are to raise taxes or grow our economy,” O’Neal said. “I would be hard-pressed to find anyone who believes raising taxes is the answer.”

State Rep. Jason Ortitay, whose district includes northern parts of Washington County and some southern portions of Allegheny County, said the budget proposal “includes a lot of new spending but relies on one-time surplus dollars and could set us up for tax increases down the road.”

Oritatay said he respected Shapirio’s optimism and calls for bipartisanship, but “I’m concerned about what his plan means for Pennsylvania families and taxpayers” and could set the table for a $3 billion deficit next year.

State Rep. Natalie Mihalek, who represents Peters Township and Upper St. Clair in Harrisburg, said Shapiro “showed how charismatic he is” in the budget address, which clocked in at just a little over 90 minutes, but she was unhappy with possible increases in spending.

“I appreciate that Gov. Shapiro has ambitious plans and certainly that ambition comes out in the pomp and circumstance of today’s presentation, complete with pauses for clapping and introducing special guests,” Mihalek said. “But the dust settles rather quickly in the state capitol and there isn’t a sales pitch strong enough to hide the numbers of a bad budget proposal that writes blank checks.”

The budget put forward by Shapiro also contains “harmful energy taxes,” according to state Rep. Bud Cook, whose district includes all of Greene County and portions of Washington County. He said the proposal would “directly tax coal and natural gas power plants, which would force customers into higher energy bills.”

Cook continued, “Shapiro’s spending dreams remain out of touch with the needs of the hardworking taxpayers of Greene and Washington counties, and prove he has no regard for the financial well-being of the future of our commonwealth.”

State Rep. Ryan Warner said Shapiro “is failing to honor the most basic rule of budgeting … you can’t spend more than you bring in.” Warner, whose district includes Belle Vernon, Brownsville and Connellsville, continued, “Yet that is exactly what he is suggesting we do by proposing to spend $3.5 billion more than the current fiscal year, knowing the estimated increase in revenue during the same period of time is less than half that. That means spending the rest of the state’s reserve funds, dipping into the Rainy Day Fund and creating new taxes.”

The budget proposal Shapiro put forward is “nothing short of reckless,” according to state Rep. Charity Grimm Krupa, who represents Uniontown, Fairchance and other communities in Fayette County. She also said the budget would rely on “legalizing recreational marijuana to balance the books. Given the shortcomings of the medical marijuana program we already have in place, are we really in the best position to assume recreational marijuana should even be legalized in the first place?”

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