Governor’s Shapiro’s first budget is now on the record and there is some really good news for kids. However, there are also some BIG missed opportunities that must be addressed for them to be healthier, safer and have better educational opportunities.

The State Budget: Health

• Increasing mental health supports for students – $500 million over five years for grants to schools for counselors, social workers, and mental health staff.  
• Making sure kids don’t get sick from going to school – $500 million over five years for matching grants to get toxins, like asbestos, lead and mold out of schools.
• Expanding access to mental health services – $20 million more for county based mental health services.
• Meeting the needs of our youngest children – $30.4 million more for Early Intervention services with $20 million for children under three and the balance for children three to five years old. Hopefully these funds shorten the crisis-level waiting lists that parents face trying to help their babies and young children reach healthy developmental milestones.  
• No funds to get the lead paint out of homes despite the fact that 9,000 -10,000 children are poisoned by lead, mostly by lead paint in their homes.
• No plan to make sure every child has health insurance including the 20,000+ immigrant children living in Pennsylvania without legal citizenship papers.

We think there is much more that state legislators can do to help make Pennsylvania a place where all children don’t just survive but thrive. Watch our lively state budget analysis specially tailored for March Madness fans and read our detailed breakdown of Governor Shapiro’s 2023-2024. 

Please write to urge your lawmakers to step up for our kids now by investing further resources in our schools, early childhood education, kids’ health, and common-sense initiatives that will lead Pennsylvania into the future.