HARRISBURG – Senate Republicans will closely examine Gov. Josh Shapiro’s 2025-26 budget plan during the next several months to find improvements that will ensure greater long-term fiscal stability for the commonwealth, according to Sen. Camera Bartolotta (R-46).
The $51.5 billion budget proposal Shapiro debuted today will increase state spending by $3.6 billion, an increase of 7.5% over the current year’s budget. During the next five years, Shapiro’s spending plans will leave a $27.3 billion hole in the state’s finances, Senate Republicans said.
“Gov. Josh Shapiro’s budget proposal uses very creative and disingenuous accounting that will only result in future tax increases. He is assuming that Pennsylvanians are not smart enough to realize he is proposing an unbalanced budget that is propped up by make-believe revenue projections – this is an insult to the hardworking people of the state,” Bartolotta said.
The governor’s unrealistic revenue predictions, and wildly inaccurate future expenditure projections, will eliminate the state’s emergency savings (also known as the Rainy Day Fund) and create the need for a multi-billion-dollar tax increase on Pennsylvania families within a year and a half.
The governor’s budget plan did not include any new revenues or expenditures related to his new “Lightning” energy plan, leaving Pennsylvanians in the dark about how it will impact their household budgets, grid reliability or the state’s finances.
“Gov. Shapiro acts like he is concerned about the cost of energy for Pennsylvanians when we already know his stance regarding the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) Electricity Tax,” Bartolotta said. “In 2023, the Commonwealth Court ruled that Pennsylvania participation in RGGI violated our state constitution. Immediately, Gov. Shapiro appealed that decision. This petulant position leaves a cloud of unpredictability hanging over any capital investment, forcing industry to choose other states like Ohio and West Virginia.”
RGGI is a multi-state compact, effectively an $800 million energy tax, that would increase electricity rates for consumers, cut energy and manufacturing jobs and lead to the closure of Pennsylvania power plants.
“While Gov. Shapiro’s budget proposal is mostly unrealistic, I was encouraged when he highlighted our state’s shortage of health care professionals. He touted my legislation to afford nurse practitioners full practice authority to increase access to much needed quality medical care,” Bartolotta said.
Bartolotta’s Senate Bill 25 would allow qualified certified registered nurse practitioners (CRNPs) to practice primary health care within their scope of practice independent of a physician after fulfilling a three-year, 3,600-hour collaborative agreement with a physician. Current law requires nurse practitioners to practice under two collaborative agreements at all times. Twenty-seven states, the District of Columbia, and VAs across America already allow for full practice authority.
“Gov. Shapiro’s budget address is only the first step in the process. He is obviously shooting for the moon, and it is our job to bring him back to earth,” Bartolotta said.
In the weeks ahead, the Senate Appropriations Committee will hold a series of hearings to closely examine the spending plan to determine how it can be improved. The hearings will begin Feb. 18 and run through March 6.
CONTACT: Katrina Hanna, 717-787-1463