Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA) revealed his 2024-25 budget proposal Tuesday in which he plans to invest $48.3 billion in the state’s substandard public and higher education system and legalize marijuana for adult use.
To increase revenue, Shapiro’s proposal would include legalizing adult-use marijuana, claiming that the industry could provide $250 million more in annual revenue. It would also allocate $5 million toward restorative justice and cleansing people’s records who were incarcerated for marijuana.
Other key elements of the proposal include distributing $1.1 billion to K-12 schools to remedy underfunding and inequity after a court found that the state’s school system was unconstitutional due to discrimination against poorer schools. Shapiro unveiled a plan last month to inject $200 million into improving Pennsylvania’s higher education system after it was ranked 49th in the country. The budget proposal did not include any new tax increases.
“This is ambitious,” Shapiro said during his speech. “None of this is easy, and all of it will require us to work together. … I know that’s a bold vision, and some will reflexively be opposed, saying, ‘We can’t afford that,’ but I would argue we can’t afford not to invest right now.”
The money would largely come from the state’s reserve funds, a financial source made up of federal aid and tax revenues from the pandemic, Spotlight PA reported.
“You’re going to hear people talk about how much this costs. The cost is too great for us not to do it,” state Rep. Jordan Harris said.
While the House is controlled by Democrats who lauded Shapiro’s proposal, Republicans in control of the Senate criticized the governor’s spending, calling it “unsustainable” and claiming it would exhaust the state’s resources. The state’s split legislature could mean difficulties in approval for the funding.
“As I listened to that budget, [it was] a bunch of unicorns and rainbows without any real explanation of how we’re going to implement it and how we’re going to pay for it,” Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward said of the proposal.
Other areas the budget proposal plans to bolster include a $280 million increase to public transportation, $31 million for state police to update vehicles and aircraft, and millions more to combat gun violence by auditing gun retailers, the Associated Press reported.
Shapiro’s proposal will be the topic of several hearings before lawmakers reach a final deal by June 30. The budget proposal will not take effect until July 1, 2024.
