The turning point in Pennsylvania’s budget impasse, by Gov. Josh Shapiro’s telling, came just before Halloween, when he and leaders in Harrisburg gathered in his stately, wood-paneled office to meet twice daily to hash out a deal to end the bitter, monthslong stalemate.
The long grind eventually led to compromises 135 days in, and a deal Shapiro said he thinks is far better than what national Democrats, hoping to extend healthcare subsidies, got in Washington at the end of the federal shutdown.
“Sometimes you’ve got to show that you’re willing to stay at the table and fight and bring people together in order to deliver,” Shapiro told The Inquirer in an interview Friday, touting the state budget agreement finally signed that week.
“I think it’s a stark contrast, frankly, with what happened in D.C., where they didn’t stay at the table, they didn’t fight, and they got nothing,” he said.
Washington is controlled by Republicans, while in Pennsylvania, Democrats control the state House and governorship, and Republicans hold a majority in the Senate.
Both state and federal budgets were signed the same day, offering Pennsylvanians relief from more than a month of government dysfunction at two levels. But for Shapiro — an exceedingly popular Democratic governor facing reelection in 2026 as whispers swirl over his potential 2028 presidential ambitions — the moment was bigger than a procedural win. In the end, Shapiro, preaching his oft-used slogan of “getting things done,” cast the outcome as proof he can muscle through gridlock of a divided legislature, cut deals under pressure, and hold firm where others cave.
So what if it took almost five months? Shapiro argues. At least he didn’t fold.
“I would have hoped to have gotten this budget done, you know, 100 or so days earlier,” Shapiro said, putting pen to paper in the state Capitol building’s baroque reception room last week. “But I think what you also saw was the result of having the courage to stay at the table and keep fighting for what you believe in. And we got a lot more than we gave in this budget.”
Gov. Josh Shapiro signs the fiscal year 2025-26 budget surrounded by General Assembly members on Nov. 12 at the Capitol in Harrisburg. The state budget had been due June 30, and Pennsylvania the final state in the country to approve a funding deal.
Critics are quick to note it took the self-proclaimed dealmaker so long to get a deal. Counties, school districts, and nonprofits struggled through four months without state payments while officials remained at loggerheads.Pennsylvania was the last state in the nation to pass a spending plan for the 2025-26 fiscal year.
“He’s five months late. He’s the governor of the fifth-biggest state in the country and the last state to get a budget done,” GOP consultant Vince Galko said. “It’s not a failing grade because it got done, but it’s still a D.”
‘A tremendous cost’
The $50.1 billion budget includes several key priorities for Shapiro and Democrats: significant increases in public education funding, a new tax credit for lower- and middle-income residents, continuation of a popular student-teacher stipend, and other economic and workforce development initiatives.
House Speaker Joanna McClinton (D., Philadelphia) heaped praise on Shapiro during a Monday news conference celebrating the budget’s new Working Pennsylvanians tax credit. “I am grateful that here in Harrisburg we have a hero among us for working families, and his name is Josh Shapiro.”
State Rep. Joanna McClinton (D., Philadelphia) is on the rostrum in the House chamber on Jan. 7 after she was reelected speaker of the House despite an initial 101-101 tie vote along party lines.
State Sen. Nikil Saval, a progressive lawmaker who represents part of Philadelphia, was one of a handful of Democrats to vote against the bipartisan Pennsylvania budgetbill that was largely lauded by Democrats and Republicans in Harrisburg and beyond. Saval applauded the school funding, anti-violence grant funding, and childcare support but slammed the absence of transit funding and Democrats’ agreement to end their pursuit to join a key climate program.
“Unfortunately, it comes at this tremendous cost,” he said.And ultimately, Saval said, the finished product didn’t seem to justify the time it took to get there.
Gov. Josh Shapiro visits SEPTA headquarters on Aug. 10 to discuss funding for the transit agency. To his right, from left, are state Democratic legislators Sen. Anthony H. Williams; Sen. Nikil Saval; Rep. Ed Neilson; and Rep. Jordan Harris.
It was not just transit funding that took a back seat to get the budget deal over the line. To thedelight of Republicans — and the chagrin of some progressive Democrats and the climate-conscious — the deal also pulled the state out of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a cooperative among states to reduce carbon emissions.
“For years, the Republicans who have led the Senate have used RGGI as an excuse to stall substantive conversations about energy,” Shapiro said. “Today, that excuse is gone.”
The powerful Pennsylvania Building and Construction Trades Council had lobbied heavily for lawmakers to walk away from the initiative, and it was a top win for state Republicans, who have long said the state should not join the multistate cap-and-trade emissions program they see as hamstringing Pennsylvania’s energy industry from accessing the state’s plentiful natural resources.
‘Two-a-days’
Shapiro said he spent months “running back and forth” to broker a deal between Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R., Indiana) and House Majority Leader Matt Bradford (D., Montgomery). The three met on-and-off in private talks, attempting to hammer out a compromise between the Democratic House and Republican-controlled Senate. But the week of Oct. 27, more than four months into the stalemate, Shapiro said a “breakthrough” finally came when he broadened the talks to include McClinton and Ward.
Minority leaders Rep. Jesse Topper (R., Bedford) and Sen. Jay Costa (D., Allegheny) also joined the group, as it became clear that neither of the tightly controlled chambers would have the votes needed to pass a final budget deal.
The group met twice daily in a conference room in Shapiro’s office. Shapiro, always a fan of the sports metaphor, called the meetings “two-a-days.”
“We would come in the morning, go over the issues. We’d have our homework for a few hours, then come back in the afternoon and talk about, you know, the progress that we made,” Shapiro said. Coming out of that week, the governor said, leaders “had a clear direction on where we were going to go.”
Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Austin Davis and Gov. Josh Shapiro show a budget document moments after it was signed Nov. 12 while surrounded by legislators at the state Capitol. A deal struck Nov. 12 ended a budget delay that lasted more than four months.
At the negotiating table, Shapiro served as “referee and facilitator” between House Democrats and Senate Republicans, McClinton said in an interview Monday.
“The man is nothing if not dogged and determined,” Bradford said of Shapiro last week.
Two officials in the closed-door talks said Topper’s presence, as the House minority leader who understands House Democrats and Senate Republicans, helped change the dynamic and got leaders on track toward a deal. Other officials in negotiations noted that once the state’s two top leaders — McClinton and Ward, who are both the first women to serve in their roles — the breakthrough deal swiftly came together.
Topper, for his part, didn’t try to take credit for striking the final budget deal, calling himself “a neutral arbiter” and “someone all sides can trust to have an honest dialogue.”
There were other signs of tensions easing as the legislators worked through the fall. Ward, a top critic of Shapiro since he reneged on a promise he made over school vouchers during his first budget negotiations, joined the conversations. The two had not met in person since 2023, and had barely communicated. Suddenly, they were sitting across from one another.
Kim Ward, president pro tempore of the Pennsylvania Senate, talks with her chief of staff Rob Ritson in her office Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2023, before heading out to preside over the swearing-in of Lt. Gov. Austin Davis in the Senate chambers.
Ward said her criticisms of Shapiro still stand — she wants him to be more transparent, among other disagreements. But she described the conversations as “very cordial, very professional.” And there were moments of levity that helped, said the top Republican leader in the Senate, who is known for her wry humor.
“He did leave me a sugar sprinkle heart [cookie] one day at my seat, and I told him, ‘You know, I’m too old for you, and we’re both married,’” she joked.
“I can’t understand why all these legislators think they did a great job,” she said on The Conservative Voice radio program, breaking with GOP leaders, like Ward and Pittman, who lauded the deal. “… Next year, they’re going to have to dip into the Rainy Day Fund to plug a budget, and then taxes are going to go up.”
Because of how long this budget took to finalize, Shapiro will already need to introduce his next budget in just three months, and in proximity to the 2026 midterms and Pennsylvania governor’s election. But it’s unclear whether those negotiations will be as fraught, given budgets tend to get resolved faster in election years with both parties eager to focus on the campaign trail.
“In this day and age, I would not downplay the fact that there was compromise,” said Berwood Yost, a pollster with Franklin and Marshall College. “People want their problems solved. They want politicians to do things that help their everyday lives and that, for most people, means some kind of compromise. Getting this problem solved fits with his narrative.”
Galko, the GOP consultant, looked further ahead to a potential 2028 presidential election. The budget impasse, he said, could provide material for Democratic rivals on the national stage. The possible field is filled with other governors, several from blue states, like Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois and Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, where in-state dealmaking is easier among a uniform legislature.
“If he’s unable to negotiate with the Pennsylvania Senate, what’s he gonna do when he goes up against China or Russia?” Galko asked, previewing the possible attack.
Ultimately, history suggests Shapiro’s political success is likely to hinge less on the nuts and bolts of a budget only some Pennsylvanians — and even fewer outside Pennsylvania — are familiar with, and more on his ability to bolster his image as a bipartisan governor in a purple state.
On Friday morning in South Philadelphia, Shapiro sported a bomber jacket while posing for selfies with Eagles fans, nodding along to a rock band’s cover of “Santeria” in a tent outside the Xfinity Mobile Arena at an event hosted by radio station WMMR.
Casually, almost as a throwaway line, Shapiro mentioned to radio hosts Preston and Steve during an interview that he planned to bring Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer — a fellow swing-state governor seen, too, as a possible 2028 Democratic contender — as his guest to the Eagles-Lions game at the Linc that Sunday.
“She actually said, ‘Is it OK if I wear Lions stuff?’” Shapiro told the kelly green-clad crowd in Philadelphia, riffing on the friendly football rivalry — the undercurrents of national politics left unspoken. “And I’m like, ‘No problem. You’re on your own in the parking lot. I can’t protect you.’”
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer joined Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro at Sunday’s game between the Eagles and Detroit Lions at Lincoln Financial Field.
The event was a food drive but also served as a tribute to the station’s beloved late host, Pierre Robert. Shapiro brought along a commendation from the governor’s office for the occasion.
“He created community, created joy, brought people together,” Shapiro said of Robert. “You think about just how divided we are as a world, there’s a few things that still bring us together, right?”
“By the way, I’ve learned those lessons. That’s what I try and do governing with a, you know, divided legislature.”
Music and sports, the governor mused before the crowd of Philadelphia fans, are two things that bridge the gap. “Go Birds,” he added with a grin.
Staff writer Katie Bernard contributed to this article.
Members of the Transport Workers Union Local 234 on Sunday, Nov. 16 voted to authorize a strike if union and SEPTA negotiators can’t reach an agreement on a new contract.
Shortly before the current contract ran out at 11:59 p.m. on Nov. 7, TWU’s new president, Will Vera, urged union members to stay on the job. In an unusual move, he delayed a strike vote at the time of contract expiration, saying he had hope that a deal could be reached without the usual brinksmanship.
“We’re asking you to please continue to come to work and put money aside. We want you to be prepared in case we have to call a work stoppage,” he told members in a video at the time.
Local 234 leaders say they’re prioritizing a two-year deal with raises and changes to what the union views as onerous work rules, including the transit agency’s use of a third party that Vera said makes it hard for members to use their allotted sick time.
In a statement, SEPTA said it was aware of the authorization vote and is committed “to continue to engage in good-faith negotiations, with the goal of reaching a new agreement that is fair.”
2023 Fraternal Order of Transit Police Lodge 109 (three days)
SEPTA police officers walked off the job after bargaining with the transit agency for almost nine months, largely over the timing of a 13% pay raise for members. The agreement, partially brokered by Gov. Josh Shapiro, came amid heightened fears about safety on public transit and a funding crisis for SEPTA.
TWU Local 234 walked off the job for six days; the biggest issue was retirement benefits. SEPTA’s contributions toward union members’ pensions did not rise in tandem with wages when workers made more than $50,000. Managers’ pension benefits were not capped. The union also wanted to reduce out-of-pocket health-care costs and win longer breaks for bus, trolley, and subway operators between shifts and route changes.
SEPTA and the union reached an agreement Nov. 7, the day before the general election. Democrat Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign was worried about voter turnout, and the city sought an injunction to end the strike. It proved unnecessary.
Talk about leverage. TWU was ready to strike just before the first home game of the World Series between the Phillies and the New York Yankees. Gov. Ed Rendell pushed the two sides to continue talking, and the transit workers waited to walk out until three hours after the end of Game 5, the last in the series played at Citizens Bank Park.
It was a bitter strike, coming just a year after the stock market’s meltdown started the Great Recession. TWULocal 234 President Willie Brown called himself “the most hated man” in Philadelphia. Mayor Michael Nutter was harshly critical. Brown called him “Little Caesar.”
The strike was settled Nov. 7 with a deal on a five-year contract. Transit workers got a $1,250 bonus, a 2.5% raise in the second year, a graduated increase in SEPTA pension contributions from 2% to 3.5%, and the maximum pension benefit was raised to $30,000 from $27,000.
2005: TWU Local 234 and United Transportation Union Local 1594 (seven days)
Negotiations collapsed mostly over SEPTA’s insistence that workers pay 5% of medical insurance premiums. At that point, the authority paid 100% of the workers’ premiums for family coverage.
In the end, it was solved by Gov. Rendell, a Democrat who had been Philadelphia mayor in the 1990s. He agreed to give promised state money to SEPTA early, so it could pay premiums in advance, reducing its costs.
In the resulting four-year deal, the unions had to pay for 1% of their medical premiums. They also received 3% yearly raises.
Pedestrians and cars in a chaotic dance at the intersection of Market and 30th Streets during the afternoon commute on the first day of the SEPTA city workers’ strike Nov. 1, 2016.
1998: TWU Local 234 (40 days)
City transit workers’ contract expired in March, but they did not strike until June — and then stayed out for 40 days. The two sides reached an agreement in July, but it fell apart. TWU members had returned to their jobs and kept working under an extension of their old contract. A final agreement was signed Oct. 23.
The union agreed to SEPTA’s demand that injured-on-duty benefits be limited. The old contract gave them full pay and benefits while on leave after a work injury. SEPTA wanted to hire an unlimited number of part-time workers. The union agreed to 100 part-timers to drive small buses.
SEPTA’s chief negotiator was David L. Cohen, famous for reining in unions representing city workers during Philadelphia’s bankruptcy in 1992, as Rendell’s mayoral chief of staff.
A two-week strike stilled city buses, trolleys and subways until an agreement was reached April 10. Transit workers would get 3% raises per year over the three-year span of the new contract, as well as increases in pension benefits and sick pay.
The union agreed to several cost-reduction measures, including a restructuring of SEPTA’s workers compensation policies.
Mayor Ed Rendell, a villain to many in labor for winning givebacks from city unions in 1992, pushed SEPTA to offer more generous terms to TWU than it had initially. Cohen, who was his chief of staff, crunched the numbers to make it work. Three years later, out of the city administration and working as a lawyer, he was hired as SEPTA’s chief negotiator.
1986: TWU Local 234 (four days) and UTU Local 1594 (61 days)
When TWU struck the city transit division in March 1986 over a variety of economic issues and work rules, some bus drivers pulled over mid-route and told passengers to dismount, The Inquirer reported.
Members were particularly incensed at what they considered SEPTA’s draconian disciplinary procedures. Union leaders said the issue was a basic lack of respect. The strike was settled in four days.
Drivers for 23 suburban bus routes, two trolley lines in Delaware County and the Norristown High-Speed Line — all members of the United Transportation Union — struck for just over two months, affecting about 30,000 passengers a day.
Employees in what was then known as SEPTA’s Red Arrow Division — after the private transit company that used to own the routes and lines — made considerably less than their city counterparts and had weaker pension benefits. They won raises and pension changes that brought them closer to parity.
1983: Regional Rail (108 days)
Thirteen separate unions walked off the job on the commuter rail lines that SEPTA had taken over at the beginning of the year from Conrail, successor to the bankrupt Pennsylvania and Reading Railroads.
In addition to wages, a key issue was SEPTA’s demand that union train conductors accept pay cuts. The authority had already cut the number of those workers by more than half.
Eventually SEPTA reached deals with a dozen of the unions. The 13th local, which represented 44 railroad signalmen, held out longer. Main issue: Whether SEPTA had the right to contract with outside firms for some types of signal work.
The Regional Rail strike remains SEPTA’s longest work stoppage since 1975.
Joyce Woodford (center), a 25-year veteran cashier on SEPTA’s Broad Street Line, serves up fried fish for her fellow striking cashiers outside the Fern Rock Transportation Center during dinnertime on the third day of the SEPTA strike in 2016.
1982: TWU Local 234 (34 days)
About 36 suburban bus drivers and mechanics operating routes primarily in Montgomery County, and some routes in Bucks, won an 8.5% wage increase over three years.
The bus routes were the descendants of the Schuylkill Valley Lines and the Trenton-Philadelphia Coach Lines, which SEPTA acquired in 1976 and 1983, respectively. Service has grown, and the collection of bus routes is known as the Frontier Division today.
1981: TWU Local 234 (19 days) and UTU Local 1594 (46 days)
Transit workers shut down buses, trolleys and subways in the city on March 15, seeking job security in the form of a no-layoff clause, wage increases and a bar on SEPTA hiring part-time workers.
And the Red Arrow division went out for 46 days seeking higher wages and better medical benefits. SEPTA also backed down a demand for permission to hire private contractors for some work on the suburban buses, trolleys, and the Norristown High Speed Line.
1977: TWU Local 234 (44 days)
After a bitter strike, union members who run the city transit division got higher wages and more benefits, after rejecting an arbitrator’s proposed contract that was portrayed in news reports as generous.
A furious Mayor Frank Rizzo told reporters the strike “can last 10 years for all I care.” He said of the union’s rejection of the earlier offer: “It is outrageous, and I hope the people won’t forget it.”
1975: TWU Local 234 (11 days)
Transit workers, concerned about the ravages of inflation, wanted a clause giving them cost-of-living increases and enhancements to health-care benefits. Those were granted after Rizzo agreed to add $7.5 million to the city’s annual SEPTA contribution. Perhaps that’s one reason the mayor was so annoyed two years later.
Staff writer Erica Palan contributed to this article.
HARRISBURG — The contentious — and, at times, bitter — Pennsylvania budget stalemate has finally ended.
Gov. Josh Shapiro signed the nearly $50.1 billion state budget Wednesday, as part of a breakthrough bipartisan deal that ends a key climate initiative and increases public school funding. Schools, counties, and social service providers will soon receive four months of withheld state payments, lapsed after the budget deadline passed at the start of the new fiscal year on July 1, providing the much-needed relief that some say will come too late.
The long-awaited budget deal involving Shapiro, House Democrats, and Senate Republicans marks the first time Pennsylvania’s state budget has topped $50 billion. State spending and revenue earnings have skyrocketed in the post-COVID-19 years due to federal cash infusions. The budget is a 4.7% increase in spending over the prior fiscal year and includes no new tax increases. Lawmakers and Shapiro agreed to tap into underutilized special funds and use the state’s surplus to address a budget shortfall, as Pennsylvania is on track to spend more than it brings in this fiscal year and in the future.
Democrats (left) stand to applaud a tax cut proposal while Republicans (right) remain seated as Gov. Josh Shapiro delivers his third budget address to a joint session in the House chambers at the State Capitol Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025. Shapiro, a Democrat, will need to negotiate with a split legislature.
Both Republican and Democratic leaders celebrated the budget’s passage as a “true compromise,” noting that neither party got everything it wanted in the final deal. The spending plan includes significant energy and permitting changes cheered by Republicans and an earned-income tax credit and revisions to cyber charter funding long sought by Democrats, among other policy wins revealed Wednesday.
“Today is a good day,” Shapiro said, opening his remarks before signing the budget bills into law in the Capitol building, flanked by Democratic lawmakers.
“I would have loved to have stood here in this room with all of you on June 30, but as you know, Pennsylvania is just one of only three states in the country with a divided legislature,” Shapiro, a Democrat, said. “It requires all of us to compromise, to have tough conversations, and, ultimately, to find common ground.”
Several leaders said the budget deal approved Wednesday would not have been possible months ago, as debate had devolved into partisan finger-pointing over who was responsible for the budget deadlock and who might benefit politically from it.
Big GOP win: An end for RGGI
Among the top wins for Senate Republicans is the end of the state’s efforts to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which former Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf entered without legislative approval in 2019 and has been tied up in litigation ever since. The program has drawn the ire of Republicans, and in floor remarks Wednesday, House Minority Leader Jesse Topper (R., Bedford) called it the “No. 1 issue holding Pennsylvania back from economic growth.” The 12-state program, known as RGGI, is an interstate cap-and-trade initiative that charges power plants for the amount of carbon emissions they release into the air.
House Minority Leader Jesse Topper (R., Bedford) speaks on Jan. 7, 2025, on the first day of the 2025-2026 legislative session.
Ahead of a final budget deal, some Democratic lawmakers and environmental groups spoke out against ending Pennsylvania’s involvement in RGGI as a threat to the environment. In the end, most Democratic lawmakers voted in favor of the omnibus budget bill that ended the state’s pursuit to join the initiative.
House Majority Leader Matt Bradford (D., Montgomery), a top negotiator of the budget deal, told The Inquirer on Wednesday that Democrats’ agreement to leave RGGI was part of a broader compromise to end the impasse.
“I’m one who believes there should be a price on carbon, but I recognize the reality of the situation and compromise is required,” Bradford added.
House Majority Leader Matt Bradford (D., Montgomery) speaks on the first day of the 2025-2026 legislative session.
Shapiro and Democratic leaders were able to persuade Republicans, in turn, to spend more than they had wanted to this fiscal year. That additional spending allowed Democrats to invest more in public education, a new earned-income tax credit targeted toward working Pennsylvanians, and more.
“It’s much more money than we want to spend, and it took a lot longer than we wanted, but I think it was worth the wait,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward (R., Westmoreland) in floor remarks Wednesday. “I am actually excited to vote for this budget.”
Dems win new funding for schools, but not mass transit
The budget deal includes more than $665 million in new funding for public schools, approximately $562 million of which would be funneled through the state’s adequacy and tax equity formulas as part of an effort to close what experts call a $4 billion “adequacy gap.“ These formulas were created last year in response to a 2023 court ruling that found Pennsylvania’s public education funding system unconstitutionally deprives students from poorer districts of an adequate and equitable education.
Senate Minority Appropriations Chair Vince Hughes (D., Philadelphia) applauded the budget agreement for its investments in public school funding, gun violence prevention, and the student-teacher stipend, among other things.
“This budget has good work in it that helps address … the issue of affordability, which sang loud and clear in the most recent election as a predominant issue that Pennsylvanians want us to address,” Hughes said on the Senate floor Wednesday.
In addition, the budget includes changes long sought by Democrats to how Pennsylvania funds and oversees its cyber charter schools. Cyber charter school leaders warned that the changes might lead to closures and mass layoffs for the virtual schools, which often serve the state’s most vulnerable populations, but they were resoundingly celebrated by Democrats and public education experts.
“We finally reformed our cyber charter school system,” Shapiro said to boisterous applause. “If a parent wants to send their child to a cyber school, that’s fine. That’s their prerogative. But we shouldn’t be overfunding them at the expense of Pennsylvania’s public schools.”
The deal, however, does not include any additional funding for mass transit, another major Democratic priority. Democrats removed mass transit from the budget negotiation table in September, after a lawsuit required SEPTA to undo its service cuts and Senate Republicans appeared unwilling to make a long-term investment in mass transit. Instead, Shapiro approved SEPTA’s use of its capital funds to help fill the budget deficit of the state’s largest mass transit agency for the next two years.
Bradford told reporters thatsecuring a long-term revenue stream for transit agencies remains a top priority for his caucus in future budgets.
Inflamed, in part, by the mass transit debate, negotiations over the budget had been stalled for months until the end of October, when Shapiro convened top legislative leaders to return to talks. The renewed budget negotiations included House Speaker Joanna McClinton (D., Philadelphia) and Ward, who are the highest-ranking officials in their respective chambers but had usually stayed out of the budget talks led by Bradford and Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R., Indiana).
Counties are still hurting from the late budget
Unlike the federal government, Pennsylvania’s state government does not entirely shut down when a budget has not been approved. Lawmakers and state employees continued to be paid throughout the 135-day impasse. But the late budget had significant impacts on school districts, counties, and social service providers — all of which are awaiting billions in expected state payments that should begin flowing again soon.
The lack of state funding has required schools, counties, and service providers to cut jobs, take out expensive loans, or stop services altogether.
Over the course of the more than four-month impasse, Pennsylvania’s counties spent millions to make up for the loss of state dollars. In Montgomery County, officials estimated the county had spent between $40 million and $50 million from budget reserves to maintain services. Chester County officials estimated they spent $40 million in reserves, while Delaware County officials spent $12 million each month until October, when they had to reduce payments on some of their bills in the absence of state funding. Counties expect to be reimbursed for those expenses, but it is unclear when the reimbursements will come.
“Counties are at the breaking point, financially speaking,” said Kyle Kopko, the executive director of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania. If reimbursements are not delivered swiftly, Kopko added, it could force additional nonprofits that provide social services to shutter.
Even as county leaders were grateful for an end to the impasse, some expressed frustration over the contents of the final budget deal. The agreement, Kopko said, included a 2% cut to mental health services statewide, though he said the cut likely would not affect payments to counties. And it left other funds counties rely on to pay their bills — like 911 fees — stagnant, despite inflation.
Counties in Pennsylvania can increase their revenue only by raising property taxes. By failing to provide additional funds for social services, county officials argued Wednesday, lawmakers had created a situation in which counties would immediately or eventually have to raise property taxes.
The combination of the cuts and the failure to increase funds for public transit and other needs, Delaware County Councilmember Christine Reuther said, meantthe state had essentially passed the buck to the counties.
“They’re not solving problems. They’re not saving people from tax increases,” she said. “They’re just making somebody else do their dirty work.”
This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.
The transit agency has until Oct. 31 to complete the inspections, which were recommended after the National Transportation Safety Board released a report investigating five fires that occurred on the Silverliner IVs this year.
As of Oct. 9, SEPTA said that crews can handle about six Silverliner IV cars a day, with a goal of ramping up inspections to handle 12 cars a day with five-person crews per car.
Although SEPTA is rotating cars in and out of service for the inspections — instead of yanking all 225 from service at once — riders have experienced significant delays and some trains have been outright canceled. Without a full fleet, SEPTA says it is unable to respond as easily to typical delay-causing events, such as power outages and bad weather.
Riders should check the SEPTA app for real-time updates on how trains are running.
As the deadline approaches and delays persist, The Inquirer is tracking SEPTA’s inspection progress.
Mon., Oct. 27, 2025
95 inspections complete
Days until deadline: 4
Fri., Oct. 24, 2025
88 inspections complete
Days until deadline: 7
Wed., Oct. 22, 2025
78 inspections complete
Days until deadline: 9
Mon., Oct. 20, 2025
66 inspections complete
Days until deadline: 11
Fri., Oct. 17, 2025
58 inspections complete
Days until deadline: 14
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Wed., Oct. 15, 2025
46 inspections complete
Days until deadline: 16
Thurs., Oct. 9, 2025
12 inspections completed
Days until deadline: 22
Mon., Oct. 6, 2025
Inspections begin
Cars began undergoing inspections in SEPTA’s four regional maintenance facilities.
Greg Buzby, manager of Regional Rail vehicle engineering, shows some of the work being done for the safety inspections at the SEPTA Overbrook Maintenance Facility.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
“We’re looking for any signs of overheating or damage to any of the circuits, physical damage, making sure the bolted connections are tight,” said Greg Buzby, manager of Regional Rail engineering. “There’s also electrical testing that we have to do to make sure the insulation has its integrity.”
Inspections remaining: 225
Days until deadline: 25
Wed., Oct. 1, 2025
NTSB releases report
Noting that the Silverliner IV cars’ “outdated design … represents an immediate and unacceptable safety risk,” the National Transportation Safety Board urged SEPTA to sideline all the Silverliner cars immediately and to retrofit or replace them as soon as possible. The Silverliner IVs went into service between 1974 and 1976, with technology that was designed even before that time.
The NTSB’s findings are advisory.
More than 300 passengers were safely evacuated after a SEPTA Regional Rail train caught fire in February in Delaware County.Charles Fox / Staff Photographer
The Federal Railroad Administration, which regulates freight and passenger railroads, ordered SEPTA to undertake the inspections, concluding “that SEPTA’s maintenance and operation of its passenger rail equipment requires additional oversight and corrective action.”
Inspections remaining: 225
Days until deadline: 30
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Reporting: Thomas Fitzgerald and Erica Palan
Graphics: John Duchneskie
Editing: Lizzy McLellan Ravitch
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A portion of the popular Schuylkill River Trail in Center City has been closed and fenced off indefinitely after a “chasm”-sized sinkhole formed under the asphalt.
The trail is closed between Race Street and JFK Boulevard, just north of the SEPTA Bridge, according to the Schuylkill River Development Corp. (SRDC), a nonprofit that has helped revitalize the section of the trail known as Schuylkill Banks.
The SRDC said that it is working with Philadelphia Parks and Recreation, the Philadelphia Water Department, and engineers “to figure out what caused the large cavity to form and what is needed to make the necessary repairs.”
It has posted a map of a detour that can be used until repairs are made.
A map of a detour for the Schuylkill River Trail closure between Race Street and JFK Boulevard, which closed for emergency repairs after a sinkhole appeared Oct. 23, 2025
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Joseph Syrnick, president and CEO of the SRDC, said the hole first came to the attention of his staff when a trail user reported it last week. At first, it appeared to be only a small hole, Syrnick said.
“By the time we got to it, it was about the size of a cantaloupe,” he said. “And then within a short time, it opened up the size of a small pumpkin. We immediately barricaded it off and made it safe.”
Syrnick said the hole was covered with plywood and cones were placed around it to block access by trail users. Crews began to explore the hole more thoroughly.
“We stuck our heads down there through the hole the size of the pumpkin, and saw a huge void. It’s like 8 by 10 [feet]. You could park a car down there — almost. So this has obviously been going on for a long time and luckily we caught it before it collapsed.”
Syrnick called it a “chasm” under the asphalt.
On Friday, SRDC hired an engineer, and then brought in the water department. The decision was made to block off the trail completely.
Although part of the trail remained covered, it took until Monday to put fencing and signs in place, completely sealing off any access.
“Theoretically, it could have collapsed,” Syrnick said.
Syrnick did not have a time frame for when the trail would reopen. He said his team needs to find the cause first. A repair could mean minor or major construction.
A sign warning people that part of the Schuylkill trail is closed for repairs between JFK Boulevard and Race Street after a sinkhole was discovered.
“I think we’re lucky finding this in the middle of fall, heading in the winter,” Syrnick said, “which is way better than finding it in the middle of spring, heading in the summer.”
Brian Rademaekers, a spokesperson for the water department, said it is working with SRDC to investigate the cave-in along the trail at Arch Street.
Rademaekers said crews will use dye to trace the source in an effort to determine a possible cause. He said that the nontoxic dye may cause discolored water in the Schuylkill, but that it is not a threat to people or wildlife.
“Once the results from this testing are evaluated,” Rademaekers said, “the PWD will work with SRDC to determine next steps needed to reopen the trail. Trail users should follow signage and advisories issued by the SRDC.
Rademaekers said the water department would not likely have an update on the situation until at least Friday.
Three large stand-alone parking garages have been proposed in Philadelphia this year, unusual projectsin a city where parking operators have long complained that high taxation makes it difficult to run a business.
The latest is a 372-unit garage near Fishtown and Northern Liberties at 53-67 E. Laurel St. near the Fillmore concert hall and the Rivers Casino.
“There’s been about 2,500 units that have come online within a 5- to 10-minute walk” of the planned garage, said Aris Kufasimes, director of operations with developer Bridge One Management. “When you’re building those on 7-1 [apartments to parking spaces] ratios, that leaves a massive hole. Where is everybody going to put their vehicles?”
Despite central Philadelphia’s walkability and high levels of transit access, two other developers have made similar calculations this year.
In the spring, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) revealed plans for a 1,005-space parking garage in Grays Ferry along with a shuttle service to spirit employees to the main campus a mile away.
In August, University Place Associates unveiled plans for a 495-unit garage. About a fourth of it will be reserved for the use of the city’s new forensic lab, but the rest will be open to the public.
All three projects have baffled environmentalists and urbanists, who thought Philadelphia was moving away from car-centric patterns of late 20th-century development.
It’s also surprised parking operators in the city, who say national construction cost trends and high local taxation make it difficult to turn a profit.
Legacy parking companies in Philadelphia like E-Z Park and Parkway Corp. have been selling garages and surface lots for redevelopment as anything other than parking. They say the city has lost 10,000 publicly available spaces in the last 15 years, bringing the total to about 40,000 in Center City.
“I don’t think I’ll ever build another stand-alone parking facility,” said Robert Zuritsky, president of Parkway Corp. and board chair of the National Parking Association. “It doesn’t make any sense.”
Zuritsky and other parking companies have long noted that operators in Philadelphia, who often have unionized workforces, get hit with parking, wage, property, and the Use and Occupancy Tax.
When combined with the soaring cost of building new spaces across the nation, it’s difficult to turn a profit in Philadelphia.
A rendering of the Fishtown garage, looking towards the Delaware River.
Zuritsky says it costs $60,000-$70,000 a space to build an aboveground lot in today’s environment and $100,000 to $150,000 below ground.
“It’s like building a house for a car,” he said.
Depending on hyperlocal peculiarities, Zuritsky says that taxation in Center City can eat up to 60% of the money they bring in and that to profit from new construction, an operator would have to charge $3,000 per space a month.
“I wish people luck, the ones that are moving in,” said Harvey Spear, president of E-Z Park. “Between taxes, insurance, and labor, it comes to, like, 70-some percent of what we take in. We have more equipment now that does away with a lot of labor; we’re trying to compensate with that.”
Urbanist and environmental advocates, meanwhile, have condemned the new garage projects, arguing that they will add to carbon emissions, air pollution, and traffic congestion.
“A massive parking garage less than half a mile from the El [in Fishtown] is the wrong direction for any city that claims to take climate action seriously,” said Ashlei Tracy, deputy executive director with the Pennsylvania Bipartisan Climate Initiative. “SEPTA is already working to get more people out of cars and onto transit, but projects like this one and the one from CHOP only make that harder.”
Here are the parking projects in the pipeline.
Fishtown: 372 spaces
The garage, with architecture by Philadelphia-based Designblendz, doesn’t just contain parking. It includes close to 14,000 square feet of commercial space on the first floor, which the developer hopes to rent to a restaurant — or two — on the edges of one of Philadelphia’s hottest culinary scenes.
Another over 16,000-square-foot restaurant space is planned for the top floor, with views of the skyline and river. Both the top and bottom floors also could be used as event spaces.
Kufasimes says that this aspect of the project could partly offset the kinds of costs that parking veterans warn of.
“Our due diligence team went through those numbers and vetted them pretty thoroughly: The returns are what they needed to be,” Kufasimes said. “It’s got a multifunction of income streams, so we think that that really will help play a larger role.”
Kufasimes also said a parking garage made sense in an area that’s seen more development than almost any other corner of Philadelphia. When investors purchased the land at 53-67 E. Laurel St. and approached his company for ideas, they met with other stakeholders in the neighborhood and determined parking would be appreciated.
“It wasn’t necessarily all about the profit,” Kufasimes said. “A lot of people this day and age, that is their number-one goal. If this is a slightly lower return in the long run but can be better accepted by the community as a whole, we think that actually raises the value of the asset.”
An overhead-perspective rendering of the Fishtown garage.
At an October meeting of the Fishtown Neighbors Association, that argumentappeared to pay off. Unlike most community meetings where a large new development is proposed, there were no adamant opponents of the project. The project also includes a 20,000-square-foot outdoor space, a green roof, and a to-be-decided public art component. All of that helped, too.
“It’s nice seeing a parking garage, of all things, be as pedestrian-friendly and thoughtful as this,” one speaker said during the Zoom meeting.
Dubbed University Place 5.0, it largely exists because of a major expansion of the municipal bureaucracy west of the Schuylkill.
For years the city has sought a new location for its criminal forensics laboratory. The debate became heated in City Hall, with numerous Council members making the case for locations within their districts.
Councilmember Jamie Gauthier pushed for its location in University City Place 3.0, a newly built, state-of-the-art life sciences building that was coming online just as its intended industry was slowing down in the face of higher interest rates.
To get the crime lab, Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration said the police department would need ample parking. That’s where the new garage comes in.
In June, Gauthier passed a zoning overlay that cleared away the regulatory hurdles to the project. Six weeks later, the developers revealed University City Place 5.0, which has 29 parking spaces on the ground floor reserved for official use by forensics vehicles and 100 spaces reserved for city employees.
A rendering of the proposed University City parking garage as seen from 42nd and Filbert Streets.
Designed by Philadelphia-based ISA Architects, the garage is also meant to serve University Place Associate’s other large developments in the area. Akin to the Fishtown garage, they have also sought to make the development pedestrian friendly, with a dog park, green space, and public art.
The local community group, West Powelton Saunders Park RCO, also embraced the proposal.
“The community met regarding this project back in August, and … they were all in support of this project,” Pamela Andrews, president of the West Powelton Saunders Park RCO, said at the city’s September Civic Design Review meeting. “We have a tremendous problem with parking, and the community members felt this was a much needed and welcome addition.”
Grays Ferry: 1,005 parking spaces
CHOP’s thousand-car parking garage by far has been the most controversial of the proposals. But it also makes the most economic sense for the owner. Unlike the other garages — or those owned by Parkway and E-Z Park — it will be owned by a nonprofit and exempted from many of the taxes that make it so expensive to own parking in Philadelphia.
A rendering of the new parking garage CHOP plans for Grays Ferry.
The hospital purchased the property at 3000 Grays Ferry Ave., next to the Donald Finnegan Playground, for almost $25 million last year.
The seven-story development, which, plans show, would have far fewer amenities than its University City and Fishtown counterparts, is meant to serve CHOP’s new research facilities in Fitler Square and the new patient tower set to open in 2028.
“We recently secured permits and have begun construction on the new parking garage at 3000 Grays Ferry Ave.,” a CHOP spokesperson said. “The full construction is expected to go through the fall of 2026. CHOP continues to engage with the community by providing support, timely updates and addressing feedback during construction.”
At the time of its unveiling, CHOP argued that the massive garage was needed as SEPTA threatened to become unreliable due to a political funding crisis in Harrisburg. But detractors appeared almost immediately to denounce the hospital for worsening air quality in a lower-income neighborhood that is already a hot spot for asthma.
There are no regulatory hurdles to the development, but changes in the political or economic landscape could make it difficult to embark on a large capital project. Notably, the University of Pennsylvania proposed an 858-space garage in 2023 for the nearby Pennovation Center and has never broken ground.
Alycia Marshall, who has been serving as interim president of Community College of Philadelphia since April, was unanimously endorsed for the permanent role Tuesday.
The board of trustees, at an 8 a.m. meeting, approved making an offer of employment to Marshall, who had served as provost and vice president for academic and student success at CCP for nearly three years before stepping into the interim role.
Marshall was among four finalists for the job.
“Congratulations,” Board Chair Harold T. Epps said to Marshall during the Zoom meeting, which lasted about 10 minutes. “You have earned it through a very tough and challenging process. …We look forward to working with you.”
Epps cited Marshall’s “stellar work” through the interim period as a factor in the board’s decision and said she had “the full confidence” of the board.
“I’m a little bit emotional,” Marshall said at the meeting. “I’m very excited. I’m honored. I’m deeply humbled, pleased, ecstatic, and looking forward to the road ahead and the journey ahead.
“I am fully committed to this institution, to our students, most importantly, and to the college community.”
Alycia Marshall
Epps said contract negotiations with Marshall would begin immediately to lead the college, which had an enrollment of 12,400 credit students and 1,381 noncredit students last spring. No terms or salary of her employment were released.
Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker congratulated Marshall in a statement.
“The Parker administration supports CCP, Dr. Marshall, and the board in its mission,” she said.
Maria Baez, student government president, was on the search committee and said while she liked all four candidates, Marshall was her first choice.
Alycia Marshall speaks at a Community College of Philadelphia forum where she appeared as one of four finalists for president. She got the job Tuesday.
“As a student, I see her passion for the students,” Baez said. “I see how connected she is with the students. Her heart is for the students.”
Junior Brainard, co-president of the faculty and staff union, said: “As a union, we are looking forward to Dr. Marshall finally making good on the agreement we signed back in March,” referring to a contract agreement. “That includes SEPTA passes for all students, smaller class sizes, and improvements to health, safety, and working conditions that will be figured out through various committees.”
During a finalist forum, Marshall addressed free SEPTA passes for students. While the college couldn’t offer the benefit to all students — it would cost about $2 million — a pilot will begin in the spring at the college’s West Philadelphia site, she said.
Brainard said the college has to do better. The pilot only serves half the students at the West Philadelphia site and just 3% of the student body, he said.
Marshall said in an interview Tuesday afternoon that the goal is to find alternative funding sources and expand the program to the entire college.
She said among her priorities will be increasing and strengthening transfer partnerships, with the recently announced program with Cheyney University, an historically Black college in Delaware and Chester counties, as a model.
“Many of our students have transportation issues and perhaps reasonably cannot drive the 25 miles to Cheyney University,” she said. “So Cheyney at CCP is going to provide opportunities to complete a bachelor’s while staying on our campus. It’s symbolic of where I would like to work together with faculty, staff and the administrators and the board … on really strengthening those pathways.”
She cited workforce development and strengthening partnerships with K-12 schools, too, including expanding dual enrollment opportunities and reaching into areas of the city that the college currently is not penetrating enough.
When Marshall was named as interim, Epps cited her “academic and organizational leadership, along with her extensive expertise in STEM, her focus on mentoring and serving underrepresented student populations.”
Marshall, 51, received her bachelor’s in mathematics from the University of Maryland Baltimore County, her master’s in teaching from Bowie State University, and her doctorate in mathematics education from the University of Maryland.
A native of Maryland, she started her career as an adjunct professor at Anne Arundel Community College in Maryland, near Annapolis, and later became a full tenured professor and chair of the mathematics department.
She was promoted to associate vice president there and founded the African American Leadership Institute and spent a total of nearly 23 years at the Maryland community college. She’s also a rising presidents fellow with the Aspen Foundation, a nonprofit aimed at creating thought leaders in their fields to address critical challenges.
Alycia Marshall, then interim president of Community College of Philadelphia, speaks at commencement in May.
At a campus interview session for the job, Marshall said she would lead both internally and externally, focusing on faculty and staff satisfaction as well as building relationships with funders and donors.
She said she has already met more than 20 City Council members and state legislators.
Marshall acknowledged that an employee satisfaction survey she commissioned when she became interim president showed low morale and promised to address it “through ensuring transparency and frequent communication.” The results of that survey haven’t been publicly released.
Marshall said that over the last six months, she learned to be comfortable not knowing what will happen next. After a board meeting earlier this month, a consultant who is the liaison to the presidential search committee said on a still-active microphone that Marshall had not been well-received on campus.
Marshall said at the interview session that she did not agree with that and that she has developed relationships with people across the college.
“If you have worked directly with me, you will know I am here for the students and I am here to support faculty and staff,” she said.
Marshall, who maintains a residence in Maryland, said she would move to the city full time if selected for the job.
The other finalists for the job were: Jesse Pisors, former president of Pasco-Hernando State College in Florida; Jermaine Wright, vice president for student affairs at City University of New York-Lehman College; and Lisa Cooper Wilkins, vice chancellor of student affairs at City College of San Francisco.
SEPTA plans to postpone the purchase of new buses, a project to make the Bristol Regional Rail station accessible to people with disabilities, and expansion of the Frazer train facility in Malvern in order to access $394 million in emergency state aid to help run the system.
The shift was required after the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation gave permission for SEPTA to transfer funds allocated for infrastructure projects to cover the transit agency’s operating deficits for two years.
SEPTA officials said none of the changes would compromise safety by stopping crucial repairs — a PennDot requirement for allowing the shift of money to operational needs.
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity stepped in on Wednesday to offer counties and early education programs $500 million in low-interest loans to hold them over until a final state budget deal is complete, sidestepping the General Assembly and Gov. Josh Shapiro as they near the start of a third month at an impasse.
Garrity, a Republican who last month announced her bid to challenge Shapiro in next year’s gubernatorial election, announced the unprecedented move to allow the state Treasury to offer the loans to county human service departmentsfor the many social services they provide, as well as for early education Head Start programs, at a 4.5% interest rate.
Counties, schools, and social service providers have pleaded for months with the legislature to finalize a budget so they can begin receiving their expected state payments, which have been on hold since the beginning of the fiscal year on July 1. Some counties have had to secure private loans to hold them over until state payments begin, while others — including those around the Philadelphia region — have relied on their reserves. Other counties have frozen hiring and spending as they await a resolution to the budget stalemate.
The move would allow counties to access millions of dollars for early education programs serving 35,000 children across the state, as well as for county social services — all of which have been operating for months without their state appropriation, with no end to the budget impasse in sight.
Garrity’s decision to act unilaterally without the action of the General Assembly allows her to capitalize politically on the ongoing budget crisis over Shapiro, challenging his image as a moderate Democratic governor of a politically “purple” state willing to work across the aisle in a divided legislature. That brand, which he has built nationally as he is rumored to have interest in running for president in 2028, has been tested as he has so far been unable to secure a budget deal or a recurring funding stream for the state’s beleaguered mass transit agencies, including SEPTA.
Shapiro, for his part, has described his role in budget negotiations as being a go-between for Senate Republicans and House Democrats, who control their respective chambers, and has said that the two caucuses remain “diametrically opposed” on some issues.
A spokesperson for Shapiro said in a statement Wednesday that the real solution to the budget impasse is for Senate Republicans, whose leaders endorsed Garrity last week, to return to work in Harrisburg to finalize a budget deal with House Democrats. A spokesperson for House Majority Leader Matt Bradford (D., Montgomery) echoed the sentiment, arguing that Senate Republicans “refuse to negotiate on a realistic budget agreement.”
Gov. Josh Shapiro visits SEPTA headquarters Sunday, Aug. 10, 2025 to discuss funding for the transit agency and to pressure Senate Republicans as planned service cuts are pending because of a budget shortfall. To his right, from left, are state Democratic legislators Sen. Anthony H. Williams; Sen. Nikil Saval; Rep. Ed Neilson; and Rep. Jordan Harris.
Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R., Indiana), the Senate’s top negotiator, who has met for months in closed-door budget talks with Bradford and Shapiro, said in a statement that it was Democrats who caused the prolonged impasse while demanding they include mass transit funding in the state budget. After mounting pressure as SEPTA enacted major service cuts, Shapiro ultimately sought to fund the agency on his own, and the issue will need to be revisited in two years.
Garrity, who kicked off her “Help Is on the Way” introductory campaign tour around the state earlier this week, said Wednesday her decision to intervene in the state budget stalemate was not political, despite her burgeoning run against Shapiro. Rather, she said that she had been thinking about a way to do so for months, including ahead of her announcement of her run for governor, and that most Pennsylvanians don’t even realize the state budget is late. She argued that if she wanted to be political, she would not intervene and would “keep the pressure” on Shapiro over the late state budget.
“I’m standing up here as Pennsylvania’s state treasurer, not as a candidate for governor,” Garrity said from a podium in the Harrisburg building that houses the state Treasury. “I think I have a responsibility to serve Pennsylvanians, that if I have something that I can do to provide some relief, then I should do it.”
However, that didn’t stop Garrity from inviting Montgomery County Commissioner Tom DiBello — the lone Republican on the board where Shapiro once served — to the podium at the news conference to deliver some direct criticisms of Shapiro and to praise Garrity’s intervention as a “lifeline” for counties, alongside two other GOP county commissioners from south-central Pennsylvania. While Montgomery County remains one of the wealthiest counties in the state, the late budget has required Pennsylvania’s third-most-populous county to spend down its reserves, money that it usually relies upon to continue earning interest as part of its annual revenue, DiBello said.
Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy L. Garrity gives her acceptance speech after receiving the PA GOP’s endorsement for her campaign for governor during the Republican Party of Pennsylvania’s 2025 Fall Meeting at the Penn Stater Hotel & Conference Center in State College on Sept. 20.
“It starts at the top. The governor is responsible,” DiBello said. “He’s got to pull it together. It’s his signature at the end of the day.”
In response to Garrity’s announcement Wednesday, Montgomery County Commissioners Neil Makhija and Jamila Winder, both Democrats, said in a statement that the county needs a final state budget instead of a short-term loan program, urging Senate Republicans to “do their job.”
“A short-term loan at 4.5% interest is the state profiting from a problem of their own making, at the expense of the taxpayers,” the two commissioners added.
DiBello said he did not believe his invitation to Wednesday’s event had political motivations, adding: “I didn’t even think of that.” He also noted that he has come to Harrisburg to advocate on behalf of counties multiple times before.
Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward (R., Westmoreland), who has been one of Shapiro’s biggest critics since his first budget in 2023 and was quick to support Garrity’s candidacy, prodded at Shapiro’s pledge to “get stuff done” while praising Garrity’s leadership.
“Today, Treasurer Stacy Garrity made a bold move that shows what ‘get stuff done’ actually looks like,” Ward said in a statement. “Treasurer Garrity’s leadership is on display as her solution-driven option is exactly what we need, but has been glaringly missing from the present administration.”
Garrity said at the news conference Wednesday that she offered the loan program specifically to Head Start programs and county governments’ human service departments because both had asked her to help them get through the budget impasse. The state budget was due by July 1, and Pennsylvania is the only state besides Michigan that has not yet passed its budget. She said she is willing to offer similar loans to schools or other state-subsidized or funded programs as requested.
The Pennsylvania General Assembly can forgive the interest accrued by counties taking out loans during the budget impasse, Garrity said, adding that shewould support legislation that does so.
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