Harrisburg, PA – October 21, 2025 –113 days after missing the deadline to pass a budget for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and 70 days after Senate Republicans voted to fund the state at outdated FY 24-25 levels, Senate Republicans continued their deliberate delay today by advancing an irresponsible budget bill that:
- Ignores $2 billion in contractual increases to Human Services Programs
- Removes $50 million from Child Care Recruitment and Retention
- Removes the $105 million increase for school districts
- Removes $10 million from the Student Teacher Stipend Program
- Cuts more than $1.3 billion from the Department of Human Services
- Cuts $4 million from the State Food Purchase Program
In response to Senate Republican’s failure to negotiate a real FY 25-26 budget, Senator Maria Collett (D-12 Montgomery, Democratic Caucus Chair) released the below statement:
“You are not serious people.”
Senate Republicans’ latest version of SB 160 once again takes a partisan approach which deliberately delays progress on passing a fair budget, and if implemented would result in service and operations cuts throughout the Commonwealth, including programs heavily utilized by Pennsylvanians living in Senate Republican districts, to achieve arbitrary political goals. This is in contrast to the multiple bipartisan budget bills sent by the House to the Senate for consideration.
Collett added, “Senate Democrats stand ready to support a bipartisan budget that actually delivers for working Pennsylvanians.”
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