Overview
- The General Assembly passed the $50.8 billion budget and Gov. Josh Shapiro signed it on July 12, enacting a bipartisan deal after talks that ran past the July 1 deadline.
- The package increases K–12 funding by about $670 million, including roughly $157 million more for Philadelphia, and directs about $775 million to state highways.
- For the fifth straight year the budget provides no dedicated state operating aid for public transit, a gap transit advocates say will force route cuts, fare hikes, and service losses that hit low-income, disabled, and rural riders.
- Progressive Democrats such as Sens. Nikil Saval and Katie Muth broke with party leaders, arguing the deal punted on energy, housing, and transit policy instead of raising new revenue to address long-term needs.
- Lawmakers postponed major revenue choices like taxing skill games and recreational marijuana and pushed more than $1 billion in Medicaid spending into next year, a set of moves that critics say masks structural shortfalls and sets up fiscal fights in 2027.