I Voted to End the Budget Shutdown

Rep. Joseph Ciresi November 13, 2025 | 4:29 PM

Dear Neighbor,

With a divided Legislature, Gov. Shapiro was finally able to sign a bipartisan budget deal on Wednesday.

While no compromise is perfect, I was proud to support the 2025–26 budget because it makes historic investments in education, achieves record savings in cyber charter school funding—thanks to legislation I championed—and provides critical funding for mental health services in schools.

The House and Senate did this without raising taxes or reducing the Rainy Day Fund.

Pennsylvania’s spending plan increases total funding for K-12 education by more than $700 million. As a longtime champion of cyber charter school funding reform, I am pleased to see that there will be $178 million in cyber charter savings statewide. School districts in the 146th Legislative District alone will save $1.18 million, reflecting savings from adjusting cyber tuition to better reflect the actual costs of teaching kids. I most recently proposed significant cyber charter funding reforms in House Bill 1372.

This budget’s record investments in public education are an investment in Pennsylvania’s future, providing more than a billion dollars in new funding for our schools to help relieve overburdened property taxpayers. The $100 million allocated for school safety and mental health services will help schools provide critical support to students, ensuring they don’t slip through the cracks and fostering safe, secure learning environments.

Locally, the budget increases funding for Montgomery County school districts, including more than $3.9 million in additional funding and cost savings for school districts in the 146th Legislative District:

Pottstown School District: $2,756,146
Spring-Ford Area School District: $355,107
Pottsgrove School District: $829,264

**These numbers include Basic and Special Education funding increases, estimated Ready-to-Learn block grant increases, and estimated savings from cyber-charter school funding reform.

Additionally, this budget:

Creates safer schools and improve access to mental health services for kids with another year of investing $100 million.
Puts more money back in the pockets of working families with a Working Pennsylvanians Tax Credit. Anyone who qualifies for the Federal Earned Income Tax Credit would automatically qualify for a state-level tax credit of 10% of the federal credit when filing state taxes.
Delivers $25 million for quality childcare workers to invest in those who take care of our kids.
Invests more than $100 million in job creation, innovation and supporting the entrepreneurs investing in our workers and our communities.

In the months ahead, I will continue to push for dedicated funding for mass transit, emergency home repairs (Whole Home Repairs 2.0), and investments in clean energy.

Veterans Dinner

Calling all veterans of the 146^th District: rsvp today for our Dec. 9dinner at TRAAC (288 Moser Road)! Doors open at 5 p.m. and dinner starts at 5:30.

Food Drive

With the federal government shutdown now over, SNAP benefits should restart soon. For the latest trusted information, visit the PA Department of Human Services website.

We will continue our non-perishable food drive through this holiday season (for distribution to the Cluster and Project Outreach).

Route 422 updates

Motorists are advised of the following travel restrictions:

Monday, November 17, through Friday, November 21, from 6:00 AM to 2:00 PM, lane closures will be in place on westbound U.S. 422 between the Sanatoga (Evergreen Road) and Armand Hammer Boulevard interchanges for roadway reconstruction.
Monday, November 17, through Friday, November 21, from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, lane closures will be in place on eastbound U.S. 422 between the Armand Hammer Boulevard and Sanatoga (Evergreen Road) interchanges for roadway * reconstruction.
Drivers are also reminder that Sanatoga Road remains closed and detoured between Linfield Road and High Street through Monday, December 1, for demolition of the westbound side of the bridge over U.S. 422. Motorists are being directed to use High Street, Evergreen Road, and Linfield Road.

Motorists are advised to allow extra time when traveling near or through the work areas because backups and delays will occur. All scheduled activities are weather dependent.