Overview
- Gov. Josh Shapiro signed the $50.8 billion 2026–27 budget into law on Sunday after the General Assembly approved the package in bipartisan votes that came nearly two weeks after the July 1 deadline.
- The budget raises total K‑12 funding to about $11.8 billion, including roughly $565 million for school adequacy and an extra $157 million directed to the School District of Philadelphia.
- For the first time since 2001, eligible public retirees will receive cost‑of‑living adjustments and permanent pension increases, funded through a dedicated account in the Municipal Pension Aid Fund.
- Lawmakers balanced the books using one‑time measures such as transferring unused special funds and delaying roughly $1.3 billion in Medicaid managed‑care payments into the next fiscal year rather than drawing on the $7.7–$8 billion Rainy Day Fund.
- Key Democratic priorities were left out of the deal — including recreational marijuana legalization, a $15 minimum wage, a long‑term transit funding plan and a final skill‑games tax/regulatory regime — and leaders signaled some issues may be revisited in the fall or future budgets.