Just three months after the 2025-26 budget negotiations were finalized, Gov. Josh Shapiro has introduced his proposed budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year, beginning on July 1.

Shapiro is, once again, proposing an irresponsible and unsustainable $53.3 billion budget, which represents a 6.3% increase over last year’s budget, further depletes the Rainy Day Fund and balloons the state’s structural deficit.

Rather than do the hard work of sitting down with Republican and Democratic legislators to find ways to rein in spending and balance the budget, Shapiro is catering to special interests and pushing for spending that vastly exceeds projected revenues. The shortfall will lead to predictable tax hikes on working families as early as 2027.

This is not true leadership. Pennsylvania taxpayers will be left paying for Gov. Shapiro’s excessive spending spree long after he’s gone.

Janet Wasserman

Hollidaysburg