(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)
Eight days after the announcement of his budget proposal, Governor Josh Shapiro joined Mike Romigh on “The Live Mike” to talk about how the budget would benefit Beaver County and its surrounding areas.
One of the major focuses of Shapiro’s budget is education, and said that “no school district is worse off than they were last year” in regards to the funding they’ve received. Specifically, he stated that the new budget would create a 15% increase (~$2 million) for the Ambridge and Big Beaver Falls Area school districts.
“I think it’s also important to note the dollars aren’t just going into the bottom lines of school districts,” Shapiro told Romigh. “We’re investing in important things like meals for kids at school, mental health services for kids, [and] a new fund to rebuild schools that are crumbling or falling down.”
However, several Republicans in Congress have come against Governor Shapiro for this new budget plan, including several in Western Pennsylvania. One of the loudest has been State Representative Josh Kail (R-Beaver/Washington), who has labelled Shapiro as a “California Democrat” following the announcement of the budget proposal.
When Romigh brough Kail’s comments to the Governor’s attention, he responded slyly by stating “I don’t know who this person is” in regards to Rep. Kail.
“I get there are certain politicians in Harrisburg who love to just be against everything that I’m for, but that doesn’t actually solve any problems,” Governor Shapiro added. “What we need to do is find common ground on education and a whole host of other issues.”
One of the biggest issues that Shapiro has been dealing with over the course of his first full year as governor is the recovery of East Palestine, Ohio following the derailment of a Norfolk Southern train on February 3, 2024. Shapiro told Romigh that he is still “angry” at Norfolk Southern for their response, and that he wants to continue the fight to hold them accountable.
“We’re going to continue to do what we’ve done, which is testing our water, our air, and our soil,” Shapiro stated, adding that they will publish the results so that the public may know the effects of the train derailment in the current moment. The Governor is also pushing to help reimburse first responders who responded to the disaster, including a $1 million “community fund” for Darlington Township and Lawrence County.
The negotiations for Governor Shapiro’s budget begin on February 20.