On the PA State Budget Impasse
Rep. Tim Brennan November 5, 2025 | 1:23 PM
One of the school districts in Bucks County may have to shut down entirely on Jan. 30 if both the federal and Pennsylvania state government budget impasses continue.
Colleagues and I joined Morrisville School District Superintendent Dr. Andrew Doster at a press conference in late October to stand up for their needs. These needs are shared by all suburban school districts, plus non-profits, community health centers, and more as they – and therefore we – suffer the consequences of these budgetary showdowns.
I’m in this office because as a student of law and history, I know governments are key to improving people’s lives.
In Pennsylvania, the Department of Education helps us teach generations of thoughtful, problem-solving kids.
Our Department of Human Services tackles complicated public health challenges that affect everyone.
The Department of Aging allows us to better care for our seniors ad neighbors with disabilities.
And agencies like PENNVEST built the infrastructure that made our suburbs so prosperous in the first place.
In the House Appropriations Committee, we stayed in Harrisburg through July — long after the Senate left town — working to offer a responsible, bipartisan budget for the Senate to pass. Through October, we offered concession after concession in good faith, only to have the Senate repeatedly recycle last year’s budget proposal.
Instead of showing up to work, some rural senators opted to spend their time on internet exhibitionism, one even taking a literal flamethrower to the Governor’s budget in a video for social media. That’s not serious leadership or the type of compromise needed for functioning government.
The Senate’s latest version of last year’s budget claims to focus on “needs, not wants.” But whose needs are they talking about? For students, parents, seniors, and small businesses, this is a budget that would fail their needs:
- It disregards a Commonwealth Court order to equitably fund our public schools as required by the state constitution.
- It doesn’t take steps to prevent more hospital closures, like those that are crippling Delaware County and the Lehigh Valley.
- It does nothing to address rising housing costs, which are especially impacting seniors and people with disabilities.
- It provides zero solutions to help families and businesses deal with childcare shortages, which voters identify as a top issue.
- It doesn’t invest in 21st-century business development.
The suburbs deserve advocates in Harrisburg who will stand up to the Senate Republican leaders who remain openly hostile to the interests of the suburbs, both by their words and actions. Unfortunately, the Senate continues to act solely on political litmus tests, moving only the bills supported by a “majority of their majority.” That is not what compromise or moderation looks like.
Our students, families, seniors, working people and residents all deserve elected leaders who'll stand with our neighbors here in Bucks County, not with political leaders in Harrisburg. We have all waited too long, too many are suffering — compromise is the heart of self-government, and we need some of it from Pennsylvania Senate leaders before more people are hurt!