The past two Democratic governors have overseen a dramatic increase in Pennsylvania’s annual budget.
Under incumbent Governor Josh Shapiro and his predecessor, former Governor Tom Wolf, Pennsylvania’s annual budget has increased by nearly 64% according to a recent report.
The report shows that under the last two Democratic administrations; Pennsylvania’s budget has increased three-and-a-half times more than during the previous Republican administration under Governor Tom Corbett.
Since Corbett left office in 2015, the state budget has spiked by 63.6%. From $29 billion, Wolf and Shapiro signed into law a budget increase to $47.6 billion.
State spending ballooned by 29% during the COVID-19 pandemic alone under former Governor Wolf.
The increases have been spent on the state’s school system, prisons, and hospitals.
As a result of the increasing annual state spending, Pennsylvania is facing a persistent deficit. That deficit is projected to increase to $4.8 billion this year.
Annual spending has been a sticking point in negotiations over the Commonwealth’s four-month-late budget. Republicans are fighting to keep spending low, while Shapiro originally proposed a budget of $51.5 billion that would far exceed annual state revenue and worsen the deficit.
“He has been unable to bring the parties together so instead he flies around the state on taxpayer dollars getting his face in front of the cameras and pointing fingers. That’s not how, using the governor’s words, you ‘get stuff done,’” said State Senate President Tempore Kim Ward.
The recent report shows that the state’s budget has seen significant increases under Democratic administrations. Increased appropriations have been made towards prisons, schools, and hospitals.
The increases account for 85.9% of total state funding.
