(Credit for Photo: Courtesy of Commonwealth Media Services, Caption for Photo: Gov. Josh Shapiro signs the state’s 2026-27 budget alongside Lt. Gov. Austin Davis on Sunday.)
Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News
(Harrisburg, PA) Pennsylvania House Republican Leader Jesse Topper (R-Bedford/Fulton) said yesterday that the Fiscal Year 2026-27 state budget and related legislation passed the Pennsylvania General Assembly and headed to Governor Josh Shapiro for his signature.
Topper released a statement yesterday on the budget passing:
“The budget passed by the General Assembly today continues our recent history of scouring every corner of state government for existing taxpayer dollars to avoid tax increases, cuts to government services or tapping into the Commonwealth’s Rainy Day fund. I am also glad to see important investments in education where we are combatting the ongoing issue of growing waitlists at career and technical centers, expanding the successful GROW PA program to ensure Pennsylvania’s graduates have incentive to stay here, and ensuring our largest state-related universities receive funding based upon meeting new performance metrics and accountability provisions.”
He expressed that the budget prioritizes improvements that are in rural Pennsylvania by adding:
“The state budget we just passed makes critical investments in our transportation infrastructure so we can move ahead shovel-ready road and bridge projects in areas across Pennsylvania.”
However, Topper gave a warning that work still remains on reversing troubling fiscal trends in Pennsylvania to avoid tough budgetary decisions in the future despite the passage of the budget as he continued:
“While revenues higher than budget estimates have shown some of the Republican-led policy wins in prior budgets are starting to have an impact, we must continue the work of providing pathways for significant economic growth and development in Pennsylvania if we stand any chance at reversing the challenging demographics of our ever-shrinking population. Pennsylvania must use the tools at our disposal to create an environment welcoming to investment while getting government out of the way of job creators so we can continue righting the ship of economic growth and development in Pennsylvania.”