Pa. lawmakers react to Shapiro’s $44.4B budget proposal, marking the beginning of negotiations

By: Marley Parish and Peter Hall

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s budget address — his first as the state’s chief executive — marks the beginning of negotiations between lawmakers and the legislative branch to reach an agreement on a spending plan.

After hearing about the Democratic governor’s proposed $44.4 billion budget during a joint session of the General Assembly on Tuesday, lawmakers in the now-divided Legislature had mixed reactions to the spending plan, with Republicans criticizing certain aspects of the proposal’s allocations and Democrats wanting to embrace bipartisan bargaining.

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