Shapiro signs 2024-25 budget into law

On July 11, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro signed into law the budget for fiscal year 2024-25. In his announcement Shapiro touted the budget’s investment in education, economic development, law enforcement and violence prevention, workforce development, affordable housing, health care, and public transit and infrastructure, among others.

“Since my first day in office, I’ve been focused on getting stuff done for the good people of Pennsylvania, solving the most pressing problems we face, and bringing people together in a bipartisan manner to deliver results — and I’m proud to sign this budget into law that makes historic investments in education and economic development, while continuing investments in public safety and violence prevention, all while cutting costs and reducing taxes,” said Governor Josh Shapiro. “Pennsylvania is the only state in the nation with a divided legislature — and I’m proud that we came together with leaders in both Chambers and both parties to show that we can do big things together to make Pennsylvanians’ lives better.”

Some of the budget’s highlights can be found below.

Education

The budget includes $1.11 billion in total increases in K-12 public education funding; $100 million for environmental repairs and other facilities upgrades in schools, including $25 million for “Solar for Schools”; a $100 million increase for special education funding; and $100 million for cyber charter school tuition reimbursements.

The budget also maintains last year’s $100 million for mental health funding for K-12 schools and includes a $17.7 million increase for early childhood education programs, including $2.7 million for the Head Start Supplement Assistance program.

Regarding higher education, the budget increases the state’s funding for community colleges and PASSHE schools, including a $15.7 million (or 6%) increase for community colleges and a $35.1 million increase for PASSHE schools (also a 6% increase), plus over $120 million in increased funding for scholarships and grants to make college more affordable.

The state’s Career and Technical Education (CTE) programming will see a $30 million funding increase in this budget and an additional $10 million for student teacher stipends, doubling last year’s allocation. It will also provide $2 million in state funding for nursing apprenticeships and $7 million to support dual enrollment opportunities for high school students, allowing them to take advanced courses for college credit.

Economic interests

The budget includes $400 million to create the Pennsylvania Strategic Investments to Enhance Sites (PA SITES) program, which will focus on bringing more commercial and industrial sites to Pennsylvania, according to Shapiro’s budget breakdown.

The budget also earmarks $20 million for the new Main Street Matters program, a revamped version of the Keystone Communities program that aims to support small businesses and commercial corridors. Another $20 million in state funding will go toward supporting small minority-, women-, and veteran-owned businesses across the Commonwealth. And $15 million will go toward tourism marketing to help boost the economy by attracting more visitors.

Agriculture

According to Shapiro’s announcement, the state has about 53,000 farms that support over 600,000 jobs and contribute $132 billion to the state’s economy. To further support those farmers, the budget includes $31 million to help poultry farmers impacted by the avian influenza (HPAI) crisis pay for testing and get reimbursed for losses to their flocks, and $10 million to support new technology relating to energy and conservation endeavors for farm operations. The state also plans to construct a new testing facility for avian flu in western PA.

Law enforcement and safety

A total of $16 million will go toward creating four more new cadet classes for the Pennsylvania State Police, which will fund nearly 400 more state troopers.

Also, an additional $125 million will go toward road and bridge projects.

The budget invests $45 million in community-based programs that work to reduce violence through the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD), including a $5 million increase for the Violence Intervention and Prevention (VIP) program, and $11.5 million to create a statewide Building Opportunity through Out of School Time (BOOST) program through PCCD, which will “aim to reduce community violence by providing more after-school learning opportunities for young people,” per Shapiro’s budget breakdown.

The PA Department of Human Services will also get an additional $2.5 million for domestic violence services.

Healthcare and senior living

Regarding healthcare funding, the budget includes $34.5 million in support for rural hospitals and $3 million to provide menstrual hygiene products at no cost to PA students.

Nursing homes will receive a 7.04% annualized rate increase that will support facility staffing and quality of care.

Additionally, $2.95 million will help support the state Department of Aging’s implementation of “Aging Our Way, PA,” an initiative aimed at enhancing accessibility and providing support for caregivers, among other initiatives, and $1.9 million will be used to create the first Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders Division within the Department to support Pennsylvanians living with these conditions and their caregivers.

Environmental protections

The budget earmarks $50 million to clean waterways across the state. It also includes $11 million in state funds to continue the work of finding and capping abandoned wells; Shapiro boasted that his administration capped and plugged over 200 wells in his first year in office — more than the previous nine years combined.

Additional budget line items can be found on the state’s budget website.