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With Disappointment at the Federal Level, Pennsylvania’s State Budget is a WIN for Kids.
 Ask most Pennsylvanians how they would grade the performance of their state and federal representatives and senators and they’d generously give them an F. In our estimation state lawmakers warrant a higher grade and here’s why.
Unlike the results of the agreement to end the budget impasse in Washington, Pennsylvania’s late budget delivered big wins for children.
We bet you didn’t know that the final budget is putting one billion in new state funds to help the poorest public schools, child care and pre-K and children with development delays.
So how did this happen?
For background, the press reported that the budget fight was defined publicly by difference of opinion over how much to increase state spending with Republicans demanding that less be spent and Democrats pushing for more.
In fact, there was much more at play including the obvious showdown on funding for transit systems and the less widely reported Senate Republican demands to reduce the state’s power to incentivize private sector measure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
To be sure, it’s a serious blow that the state lawmakers couldn’t reach an agreement on how to fund transit since it is obviously key to giving parents a way to get to work and students to get to school. The same goes for the dispute about carbon emissions since it is essential that we clean up the air so our children can breathe easier.
But all was not lost thanks to the Governor and House Democrats who would not take no for an answer when it came to investing in children.
The highlights of the wins for kids include:
- Public schools in the state’s lowest income communities will benefit from $600 million more to boost academic opportunity. These funds represent the second year of extra funding for low-wealth school districts made possible by the lawsuit to end educational disparity in the Commonwealth.
- An extraordinary new state program will distribute $25 million in bonuses for child care staff and another $9.5 million for pre-K programs both of which will go a long way in stemming the exodus of early learning staff willing to work for peanuts.
- More than $40 million in additional state funds will give children under five more access to the early intervention services proven to boost their lifetime success. Included in this funding is also a boost in pay for the many specialists who, in families’ homes and child care centers, do the lifechanging work of addressing developmental delays.
The federal budget stalemate increased hunger for the poorest Americans and meant the loss of paychecks for millions of federal employees. Meanwhile, Congress has done nothing to prohibit the tariffs that now are making basic necessities out of reach. To put it simply, the federal budget impasse at best destabilized hard-working families and at worst pushed families closer to bankruptcy and dependence on public benefits.
Fortunately, our state lawmakers agreed to take another path, to put children first. We can take some credit for the wisdom of selecting this direction. Since the day the Governor proposed his budget in February, we’ve worked tirelessly to mobilize citizens, community leaders, and rank and file lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, to secure these investments.
We are grateful to every Democrat and Republican who with us made the case that when the state invests in children, it makes raising a family more affordable, it makes having children more possible and it makes the life chances of every child more promising.
Of course, there is so much more to do and hopefully the same advocates and elected officials who take a victory lap this week will be ready to roll up their sleeves next week and in the months ahead to deliver their support to the full breadth of policies we know are essential to give parents and children the chance to lead prosperous and fulfilling lives.
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