FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 14, 2025
Contact: Kirstin Snow, Communications Director, snow@pennpolicy.org
Statement on House Budget Vote – Marc Stier, Executive Director, Pennsylvania Policy Center
The Pennsylvania House today passed a general appropriations bill, HB 1330. While it was a Democratic proposal, it received a few Republican votes.
With the state budget two weeks late, this is a welcome sign. Also welcome is that the budget largely embraces Governor Shapiro’s education funding proposals.
While the vote is welcome, in two respects, it is not a final product.
First, it is, as Democrats and Republicans in both House and Senate rightly point out, not a final product. With a divided legislature, Senate Republicans must reach an agreement with House Democrats and the governor to enact a general appropriations bill.
Second, a final budget that truly meets the needs of Pennsylvanians must include agreements on other issues that must be enacted alongside the appropriations bill. These include cyber charter reform, funding for public transit, an increase in the minimum wage, and new revenues from the legalization of adult-use recreational cannabis and a tax on skill-based video gambling. The House has passed proposals on the first four items that are also waiting for Senate action.
We hope that the House action today, which reduced Governor Shapiro’s funding proposal by $1 billion, encourages further compromise that leads to bi-partisan agreement on a general appropriations bill as well as on transit, cyber charter reform and the minimum wage.
The Pennsylvania Policy Center will release a more detailed analysis of the budget negotiations as the process moves forward.
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