Taxpayer Interests Missing from Shapiro Budget Proposal

With the start of the new session comes a very important discussion: what will the Pennsylvania governor’s vision for the commonwealth look like, and how will this vision inspire budget negotiations?

This week, Governor Shapiro addressed members of both chambers to present his proposal for the forthcoming budget. In his third budget address, Shapiro outlined a plan that comes with a whopping $51.47 billion price tag. You heard that right—in an economy that’s recovering from record-high inflation, Governor Shapiro is proposing that we spend well outside of our means.

In his over ninety-minute address, Governor Shapiro doled out proposed tax credits and subsidies galore. He listed special interests by name, leaning into his philosophical bias that throwing taxpayer-funded resources at a problem will ultimately solve for it. Unfortunately, the most prominent interest group—albeit the least represented interest group in Harrisburg—was notably missing from the list of beneficiaries of the Governor’s proposed budget.

In his address, filled with over an hour and a half of rhetoric, the word “taxpayers” was only used three times. This is a shame, as the taxpayers are the ones footing the bill for each of the promises made in the Governor’s address.

While there’s been mixed responses to the Governor’s proposed budget, our tens of thousands of taxpayer activists have a unified opinion on this whopping $51.5 billion plan—we can’t continue to tax ourselves out of business, out of jobs, and out of the ability to compete with neighboring states.

In his address, Governor Shapiro shared the following sentiment, “Cutting taxes is important to strengthening our economy.” While this is certainly a sentiment we agree with, this calls into question: why is Governor Shapiro still proposing taxes on energy, burdening our commonwealth’s ratepayers?

Whether it’s the job-killing Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or the Governor’s proposed “Lightening Plan”, the Shapiro administration continues to beat the drum for cap-and-tax policies that force the fiscal burden associated with such policies to fall on taxpayers. According to experts and business leaders in the state, policies like RGGI could cause energy prices for ratepayers to increase by 30%. Now is not the time to tax our ratepayers—instead, we should be encouraging energy innovation. However, in his address to the commonwealth’s leaders, Governor Shapiro neglected to address the threat of this tax burden.

Pennsylvania is in a structural deficit, meaning that Harrisburg is set to blow through the commonwealth’s rainy day fund and continue to live beyond its means. Over the last four years, Pennsylvania families had been hit by record-high inflation, forcing taxpayers to make critical tradeoffs in their budgets. As we, the people, were forced to make such tradeoffs to live within our means, so should Harrisburg.

If we keep on this trajectory, we’ll never compete with states that have embraced fiscal responsibility. This 7.5% increase in spending from last year will only set Pennsylvanians back from achieving economic prosperity. Instead of special interests, Governor Shapiro should embrace the constituency responsible for footing this bill. When taxpayers are at the decision-making table, only then can we achieve peak competitiveness.

Join our tens of thousands of fiscal watchdogs across the commonwealth to work towards economic prosperity. Together, we can ensure that taxpayers are in the driver’s seat, working alongside Harrisburg decision-makers. Head to americansforprosperity.org to take action today and scale your voice for a better Pennsylvania.