South Lancaster News

After reviewing Governor Shapiro's 2025-26 budget proposal, Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Scott Martin expressed significant concerns about future shortfalls. Martin claims these could result in increased taxpayer costs and higher taxes.

"Pennsylvanians deserve a budget that is honest with taxpayers about the impact of its proposed spending and policies. They need to know not just what it means today, but also tomorrow and a few years down the road," Martin stated. He criticized the plan as "wildly inaccurate" in predicting future expenditures and revenues.

Martin identified $27 billion in potential issues over five years under Shapiro’s plan, highlighting several key areas:

Unrealistic New Revenue: The governor's plan anticipates $12.1 billion from new taxes during the planning period, which Martin argues is exaggerated.

Suppressing Future Medicaid Costs: The Department of Human Services (DHS) budget increase is typically around $1 billion annually. However, Shapiro’s proposal suggests only an average increase of $330 million after FY 2025-26, which Martin says misrepresents actual growth needs.

Overstating Baseline Revenue Growth: A discrepancy exists between administration estimates and those from the Independent Fiscal Office (IFO), with the former expecting about $1 billion more on average each year beyond FY 2025-26.

Program Eliminations: The budget removes funding for programs expected to be restored by the General Assembly, totaling cuts of approximately $570 million annually or $2.8 billion over five years.

Unaccounted for Tax Credits: Shapiro plans to repurpose unused tax credits mainly for his energy initiative, potentially resulting in a revenue loss of $1 billion.

The Senate Appropriations Committee will conduct hearings from February 18 through March 6 to scrutinize the spending plan further.