From Senator Hutchinson’s Weekly Newsletter:
Although I am pleased that the 2026-2027 State Budget is completed much earlier than last year, allowing state government funds to be distributed on a timely schedule, I remain deeply concerned about the longer-term trajectory of the growth of government spending. It is an improvement over Governor Shapiro’s irresponsible proposal announced back in February, but the finalized amount of $ 52.2 Billion is still far too much and it leaves taxpayers facing a larger structural deficit.
Despite gimmicks like paying overdue bills totaling $2.6 Billion in different fiscal years to make this year’s budget look more balanced, the bottom line is that the nonpartisan Independent Fiscal Office says this budget spends $5 Billion more than the amount of revenue coming in. This is an unfortunate ongoing trend. Two years ago, the state spent $3.4 Billion more than the revenue coming in, and last year spending was $4.5 Billion more than revenue. Using one-time revenue sources to fund ongoing government programs doesn’t work in the long run, whether that one-time revenue is called Federal Covid funding or the Rainy Day Fund.
Eventually there will be no more one-time revenue, and then there will be proposals to raise taxes. I believe that most taxpayers want us to live within our means.