Governor Shapiro signed his fourth consecutive late budget into law on Sunday.
On Sunday, Governor Josh Shapiro signed a $50.8 billion state budget into law for FY 2026-27. This marks the fourth consecutive late budget for the Commonwealth under Governor Shapiro.
Signed 12 days late, the budget comes in slightly below the governor’s initial $53.3 billion proposal. That proposal’s expenditures exceeded state revenues. Senate Republicans cut more than $1.1 billion from the governor’s plan to avoid dipping into the state’s Rainy-Day Fund.
“This is the fourth year in a row where – despite working with one of the only divided legislatures in the country, where we have some really profound differences – we stayed at the table and brought Democrats and Republicans together to get stuff done, again,” said Shapiro in a statement.
The budget came late due to extensive negotiations between House and Senate leaders on several controversial provisions in Shapiro’s proposal. The main issue for Republicans was that the proposed budget was not balanced and relied on the state’s Rainy-Day Fund to make up for Shapiro’s planned expenditures.
“It is important for Pennsylvanians to understand House Democrats’ rubber-stamping Gov. Josh Shapiro’s budget all but guaranteed a $2,000 tax increase for Pennsylvania families as the Democrat budget didn’t balance. We are pleased Gov. Shapiro and House Democrats ultimately understood affordability meant respecting the taxpayers who pay our bills by returning the money to hardworking Pennsylvanians,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward.
Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman echoed Ward’s assessment. “Our Senate Republican Caucus protected taxpayers of the Commonwealth and kept the Rainy-Day Fund fully intact. Through tremendous hard work we identified and pulled $1.5 billion out of the couch cushions of bureaucracy to balance this budget.”
“The ultimate long-term solutions to our budgetary challenges are economic opportunity and growth, and I am proud that the agreement includes numerous policies to support families, invest in our local communities, and foster needed growth,” he continued.
The official budget does not include several priorities initially proposed by Governor Shapiro, including legalizing recreational marijuana and regulating skill games. His proposal to raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 was also left out of the bill.
“I knew there would have to be compromises in a divided government,” Shapiro said. “There’s a lot more work to do, but once again we’ve proven that here in Pennsylvania we can bring people together to solve problems, to get stuff done, and to build on this foundation that we’ve laid.”
