Governor Josh Shapiro of Abington was featured today in a lengthy article by The Philadelphia Inquirer which details past accomplishments and challenges ahead.
According to the story, Shapiro, 51, spent his first two years in office promoting his administration’s motto (“Getting stuff done”) and taking on issues such as “the state’s unconstitutional funding system for public education, stagnating higher education institutions, and a long-sought increase to the state’s property tax and rent rebate program for seniors.”
The Inquirer notes that he is one of few governors in the country with a GOP-controlled Senate and a narrow Democratic majority in the state House. He faces the same legislative makeup in the second half of his term.
“I’m only two years in,” Shapiro told The Inquirer last week. “I’m hungrier than ever. We’ve got more ideas than ever, and we know that we can work with Democrats and Republicans alike to advance our commonsense agenda.”
Up for reelection next year, past successes are numerous, and challenges for the remainder of his term include negotiating a state budget and managing relationships with a GOP Senate and President Donald Trump’s new administration in order to secure federal funding. The story notes that Pennsylvania faces a shortfall of $4.5 billion over the next fiscal year, and that deficit is predicted to sit at $6.6 billion by 2029-30.
Shapiro intends to continue to push for the legalization of recreational marijuana, proposing that setting the state tax on adult-use cannabis sales at 20% would bring in an estimated $14.8 million. He also looks to tax gambling skill games, which are “slot machine look-alikes that have proliferated in bars and convenience stores around the state without any state regulation or taxation.” He believes that taxing them would bring in more than $150 million in the first year.
“I’m just proud that we were able, in a divided legislature, to bring Democrats and Republicans together to solve some of these problems that folks have been talking about in the Capitol for 20, 30, 40 years,” Shapiro said. “We’ve made great strides in a really challenging political environment, and we’re going to keep working at it.”
You can read more about his plans for Pennsylvania’s economic future here.
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