Marijuana to mental health, 5 questions ahead of Gov. Josh Shapiro's 2024 budget address

Clarification: Dan Bartkowiak of the Pennsylvania Family Institute said he's opposed to recreational marijuana, but not necessarily decriminalization efforts.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is set to share insights on his Year Two agenda during the 2024 budget address Feb. 6.

In his first year in office, Shapiro used executive orders to streamline occupational licensing, to open more state jobs to people without college degrees and to create a new office designed to help small businesses. But his final budget went months past deadline after Republican lawmakers complained that Shapiro's plan left out a taxpayer-funded scholarship program that would help send kids in lower-performing school districts to private schools — a concept he'd supported on the campaign trail.

Questions about his vision for marijuana, climate change, education, taxes and mental health services linger as the prominent Democrat enters his second full year in the governor's mansion.

Recreational marijuana

In his 2023 budget address, Shapiro didn't discuss decriminalizing marijuana. The notion was nonetheless represented in his budget projections for 2025 through an anticipated $188 million in tax revenue from legal recreational adult use cannabis within a 10-year period.

State Rep. Dan Frankel (D-Allegheny), who's hosting a House health care subcommittee hearing on marijuana the day before Shapiro's budget address, said discussions have been ongoing in Harrisburg.

"It's an inevitability at this point," Frankel told the USA TODAY Network. "It makes no sense for Pennsylvania not to have a legal adult use market when the rest of the states around us do.

"I think there is some urgency for us to address this."

The process, according to Frankel, includes looking at both successful and unsuccessful models being used in other states. Important decisions about safety, sustaining the existing medical marijuana marketplace and an effective tax rate (Frankel believes the 20% levy suggested by Shapiro may be too high compared with Mid-Atlantic neighbors) are being considered.

"My sense is that it's something we need to make sure is competitve as it's rolled out," Frankel said, "no pun intended."

Though he made no prediction about whether Shapiro would discuss marijuana in his budget address, Frankel said he expects to introduce a bill on this topic before the end of the legislative session. He believes even Republicans who are opposed are coming around to the idea that, if it's to be done, it needs to be done right.

Opponents of recreational marijuana are watching as well.

"This is a drug," said Dan Bartkowiak, director of communications for the Pennsylvania Family Institute. "The (THC) potencies can be as high as 99%."

"I think there's not a recognition of harm," Bartkowiak added, citing a Colorado Christian University Centennial Institute study suggesting $4.50 in social costs for every $1 legal pot produces in the Centennial State.

Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative

In November, Shapiro clarified his environmental stance when he opted to challenge the Commonwealth Court ruling that nixed his predecessor's unilateral push for Pennsylvania to enter the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.

Better known as RGGI, this is a tax-and-cap system used by several neighboring states to limit carbon emissions. A coalition of climate groups — Evergreen Action, Conservation Voters of PA, Clean Air Action Fund, Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter, PennFuture and the Natural Resources Defense Council — is calling for the commonwealth to formally join RGGI.

"For far too long, the effects of climate change and the fossil fuel industry have devastated Pennsylvania’s environment and communities," PennFuture campaign manager Adam Nagel said in a statement.

"Pennsylvanians deserve an affordable, equitable, and healthy clean energy future. And by taking direct action next year, Pennsylvania can create quality jobs, slash dangerous air and water pollution, and improve health outcomes in burdened communities for generations to come.”

Back to court: What to know about Gov. Shapiro's appeal of ruling in contentious RGGI cap-and-trade issue

Nagel and the coalition are also asking for the state to apply for tax incentives and competitive clean energy grants offered under the federal Inflation Reduction Act.

The act makes $50 billion available to state governments that invest in transitioning to "green" energy, according to the coalition. An additional $5 billion could fund electric vehicle and cleaner transportation projects in Pennsylvania through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

Shapiro has publicly leaned on recommendations from his RGGI working group.

Members of this committee have said any aspect of the governor's energy policy must pass a three-part test to protect jobs, address climate and ensure affordable power sources. Shapiro himself has called on the Legislature to begin a "constructive dialogue" on a stronger alternative to RGGI.

This has been a tough sell in the Republican-led Senate, where GOP lawmakers have argued that RGGI-type plans cause layoffs at coal mines and fossil-fuel power plants.

“We will not negotiate environmental and energy policy with the anvil of RGGI hanging over the heads of Pennsylvanians," Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R-Indiana) said in response to Shapiro's court appeal in November. "The responsible enactment of energy policies which balance development of our God-given natural resources with environmental needs continues to be our focus.”

Commonwealth Court education ruling

Another Commonwealth Court ruling that could be referenced by Shapiro is last year's landmark education decision.

In siding with the Pennsylvania Association of Rural and Small Schools and the NAACP, Judge Renée Cohn Jubelirer said in February that state government hasn't ensured that all students have an opportunity to succeed. She did not, however, outline a specific timeframe or policies that would satisfy this constitutional right to an education.

With the situation open to interpretation, members of the Basic Education Funding Commission convened to produce a report on potential solutions.

Education question: Why the Pa. court ruling on unconstitutional education funding sets up yet another debate

The commission is a 15-member board comprised of six Democratic lawmakers, six Republican lawmakers and three members of the Shapiro administration. Members adopted a report containing several recommendations by a largely partisan 9-8 vote Jan. 11.

"(The) Basic Education Funding Commission report is a groundbreaking plan that recommends significant, targeted investments that will level the playing field by ensuring education funding is adequately and equitably distributed, all while providing significant property tax relief to many Pennsylvanians who have been overburdened for too long," House Democratic leadership said in a statement.

“House Democrats have long championed investing in our public schools to ensure all Pennsylvania children have access to a quality public education. Unfortunately, for decades our public schools have been underfunded at the state level, causing devastating disparities and placing an undue burden on local taxpayers."

In a written statement, state Sen. Kristin Phillips-Hill (R-York) raised objections to a call for $7 billion in new funding to boost public education.

"(Before) anyone jumps into the deep end of suggesting billions of new tax dollars for education, you better think of how you will pay for that," Phillips-Hill said. "Harrisburg officials cannot do what politicians in Washington, D.C., can do ― print more money."

"Without a tax hike on Pennsylvanians, this would bankrupt our state."

Phillips-Hill, a voting member of the education commission, also opposed the idea of using money from the commonwealth's Rainy Day Fund to pay for public education improvements. She noted that Pennsylvania is still middle-of-the-pack in terms of its emergency money war chest — approximately $6 billion — and that these funds are reserved for true financial crises.

Additionally, school choice advocates are maintaining pressure on the governor to make Lifeline Scholarships a reality.

Children in school districts ranked within the bottom 15% would be eligible for Lifeline Scholarships. Their families could then use the tax dollars from the scholarships to send their child to private school.

“Pennsylvanians deserve leaders who follow through on their promises, especially when it comes to our children," Erik Telford, senior vice president of public affairs for the Commonwealth Foundation, said in a prepared statement.

"Lifeline Scholarships would strengthen Pennsylvania’s struggling school system and provide parents and their children with an educational opportunity that fits their needs. Kids trapped in failing and unsafe schools can’t afford to wait while politicians kick the can down the road."

Shapiro has touted last year's budget for providing a $567-million increase in basic education funding, the largest such increase in Pennsylvania history.

Though Republicans may have an ally in the governor on Lifeline Scholarships, Shapiro's own party has come out strongly against the program. Democratic leadership in Harrisburg has argued that financing these scholarships will make it more difficult to fund necessary improvements to struggling public schools.

Regarding the higher education system, Shapiro has teased an overhaul that's generated some bipartisan praise.

The governor's blueprint calls for consolidating governance of Pennsylvania's State System of Higher Education and 15 community colleges. He also called for a tuition rate cap of $1,000 per semester at state-owned universities and colleges for Pennsylvanians who earn up to the median income.

Corporate Net Income Tax rate

In terms of the economy, a key Pennsylvania business tax rate could see an accelerated decline.

In 2022, then-Gov. Tom Wolf worked across the aisle with Republicans in Harrisburg to approve a gradual reduction of the corporate net income tax. The existing rate of 9.99%, second-highest in the nation, was reduced to 8.99%, and is scheduled to decline to 4.99% by 2031.

While campaigning for governor, Shapiro called for a much more aggressive tax cut: 4% by 2025.

"I also committed to working with the Legislature to continue lowering the Corporate Net Income Tax," he wrote in May, reaffirming this commitment. "If we want the next scientific breakthrough to happen here, if we want our workers to build the future, then we need to continue lowering the Corporate Net Income Tax."

The nonprofit Tax Foundation has said that states with lower corporate tax rates are more successful at attracting businesses and generating job opportunities.

Mental health services

On the mental health front, Shapiro talked about the need for a "comprehensive solution" during last year's address. He stressed the importance of services provided by school districts and county governments.

Lisa Schaefer, executive director for the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania, said last year's 3% funding increase for mental health services represented the first such increase in 15 years.

"Right now we know people are waiting months for services or traveling long distances for services," Schaefer told the USA TODAY Network. "Untreated mental health, while it's not in a crime in itself, can lead to interactions with the criminal justice system."

"Sometimes, unfortunately, folks end up in our jails and in our emergency rooms."

Schaefer's organization is calling for a $200 million increase to the $600 million allocated for mental health services in last year's budget. She said these funds pay for critical treatment, prevention, housing, crisis hotlines, and support for at-risk children during the summer months when a school guidance counselor may not be available.

Bruce Siwy is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network's Pennsylvania state capital bureau. He can be reached at bsiwy@gannett.com or on X at @BruceSiwy.

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: PA 2024 budget address by Gov. Josh Shapiro set for Feb. 6