The $50.85 billion 2026-27 Pennsylvania Budget Builds on Four Years of Targeted Investments in Affordability, Safety, and Education
HARRISBURG, PA − July 12, 2026 − On Sunday, July 12, Senate Democrats joined House Democrats in the Governor’s Reception Room to participate in the signing of the 2026-27 Pennsylvania Budget, a $50.85 billion spending plan that passed the House and Senate along bipartisan lines. This year’s budget makes critical investments in key areas affecting the lives of Pennsylvanians, including:
- $8.3B for Basic Education, including $565M for adequacy and equity education funding
- $1.5B for Special Education
- $40M for student teacher stipends
- $30M for childcare worker retention bonus
- Over $200M in tax relief for Pennsylvanians under the Working Pennsylvanian Tax Credit
- $23.7M for investment in historically disadvantaged businesses
- $62.15M for Violence Intervention and Prevention Programs
- $24.1M for rape crisis centers
- $7M for chip-enabled EBT cards
- $10M for Pennsylvania fruit growers who were impacted by an April freeze
Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa of Allegheny County offers the following statement in celebration:
“I am very pleased with the 2026-27 Pennsylvania Budget, which continues the Senate Democrats’ strong trajectory of supporting spending plans that benefit every Pennsylvanian. Our caucus has successfully championed investments in public education, economic development, community safety, and family affordability.
“This budget builds on the incredible momentum we have built over the past three years by committing dollars to equity and adequacy funding for our schools, recruitment and retention support for childcare workers, relief for farmers, improvements for our roads, and innovation in life sciences research.
“Additionally, Senate Democrats at last secured a long overdue cost of living increase in this budget for our retired teachers, police officers, and firefighters, who served our communities dutifully and deserve a dignified retirement. While there is still more work to be done, I am happy to have supported this commonsense, responsible budget, and I look forward to celebrating these dollars at work in all 67 counties.”
Senate Democratic Appropriations Chair Vincent Hughes of Philadelphia and Montgomery Counties offers the following statement:
“This is a strong budget that will improve our schools, lift up local economies, and help address Pennsylvania’s affordability crisis. This plan delivers a third year of adequacy funding to our schools, ensuring the General Assembly meets its constitutional responsibility to fix our broken education funding system. This budget provides a much-needed cost of living increase on pensions for retired teachers, police, and firefighters. It includes major investments that will spark job growth. And this budget maintains tax relief programs that will put significant money back in people’s pockets.
Senate Democrats remain acutely aware that every dollar counts, especially as families continue to struggle with the rising costs of housing, utilities, groceries, gas, childcare, and healthcare. As the President turns his back on struggling Pennsylvanians, we are proud to deliver a state budget that puts the people of Pennsylvania first.
We say it every year, but the negotiation process between a divided government requires compromise. There is unfinished business that we are ready to solve. While the work is clearly not done, we can’t ignore the substantial investments we’ve secured in this year’s budget.”
Senator Costa’s floor remarks on this year’s budget are accessible here.
Senator Hughes’ remarks are available here.
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