2025-2026 Legislative Session

Governor’s Proposed Budget 2025-26

Governor’s 2025-26 Budget Website

Proposal Highlights

• Education Investments in K-12 schools
• Workforce Developments, Adult Literacy & Training
• Increasing Minimum Wage
  • Gov. is calling for $15/hour; all surrounding states have increased above the federal minimum wage. The lowest is West Virginia at $8.75
• New Revenue Sources via Regulating Skill Games & Legalizing Recreational Marijuana

Legislative Responses

• Senate Republicans criticize Governor Shapiro’s budget for excessive spending without solid revenue sources, emphasizing the need for fiscal responsibility.
• House Republicans criticized the governor’s budget proposal, emphasizing unsustainable spending and the need for energy policy reforms to boost Pennsylvania’s economy.
• House & Senate Democrats emphasize allegiance with the Governor’s priorities and call for bipartisan collaboration.

Notes on the Appropriations Committee Hearings in House & Senate

Trends:

• There is a focus on wanting better outcomes with funding, and being able to prove better outcomes are coming with more money.
• There was a lot of discussion surrounding supporting workers in education, particularly in early childhood education, qualified child care workers, and student teachers.
• There is a lot of interest in workforce development and Career & Technical Education.
• Libraries are critical pieces of both the educational ecosystem and functional communities.
• Many questions about the impacts of the federal level changes to the Dept of Ed were affecting PA.

What You Can Do

• Tell your representatives and senators how you are better able to serve communities with the money you receive and how much an increase in state aid would help your community. What could you do with it? What benefits (outcomes) would your community see? Sell what your materials/services do for people, not just “We offer large print and e-books.”
• Gather data about your library and its community to help navigate the conversations with local, state, and national leaders. Calculate the library’s ROI – for every $1 of library revenue, the library generates $x value in the community. Gather feel-good stories that show user outcomes.