HARRISBURG, PA — On Thursday, August 3, Governor Josh Shapiro signed into law the Pennsylvania State Budget. 

“The people of Pennsylvania have entrusted me with the responsibility to bring people together in a divided legislature and to get things done for them – and with this commonsense budget, that’s exactly what we’ve done,” said Governor Josh Shapiro. “Throughout my campaign and in my first budget address, I laid out a vision for how the Commonwealth could create real opportunity and advance real freedom for all Pennsylvanians. With this budget and the expansion of the Property Tax/Rent Rebate, we’re making good on that promise by delivering the largest targeted tax cut for our seniors in nearly two decades, creating real opportunity for our workers by expanding vo-tech and apprenticeship programs, supporting our state troopers and local first responders, and making historic investments in our kids and their schools. This is what it looks like when government works together to make Pennsylvanians’ lives better.”

In the process of signing the budget, the Governor line-item vetoed the full $100 million appropriation for the PASS scholarship program. 

To prevent disruptions to the many critical services Pennsylvanians rely on every day, the Senate reconvened on Thursday to send the 2023-24 General Appropriations Bill to Governor Shapiro for enactment into law, according to Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R-41) and Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Scott Martin (R-13).

“Today is a good day for Pennsylvania taxpayers because we have ensured certain programs and initiatives will not be funded without further action by the General Assembly,” Pittman said. “The General Appropriations Bill advanced by the Senate is a significant part of our overall budget process, but it needs to be emphasized that is it one piece of a multipiece puzzle to put a comprehensive budget in place for our commonwealth.”

“Today’s action will ensure critical state funding can be distributed to counties, schools, service providers and other key programs throughout the state,” Martin said. “Our goal remains to complete a fiscally responsible budget without creating disruptions in the lives of the people we represent.”