Pennsylvania lawmakers are back in session, as House Democrats are advancing a spending plan that could test Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro's ability to manage a politically divided Legislature in his freshman year.
Pennsylvania state lawmakers returned to session Monday for a weekslong slog to the budget deadline, as House Democrats advanced a spending plan that could test whether Gov. Josh Shapiro can manage a politically divided Legislature in his freshman year.
It is likely to get a chilly reception in the Republican-controlled Senate, however. There, GOP leaders had already been skeptical of Shapiro's more modest spending proposal, citing forecasts of slowing tax collections, budget deficits and possibly a recession.
All told, it would boost spending for the 2023-24 fiscal year through the state’s main bank account to $45 billion, or a 5% increase over this year’s approved budget. The increase would be 8% when including an additional $1.3 billion in new proposed spending through off-budget accounts. "Now, as this process moves on to the Senate, we look forward to continuing to work with Republicans and Democrats alike to bring people together and deliver a budget that addresses the most pressing issues facing our Commonwealth," Shapiro's office said.
A legislative agency, the Independent Fiscal Office, projects that Pennsylvania is returning to its long-term pattern of deficits now that federal pandemic aid has been spent and inflation-juiced tax collections subside.
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