Blue Pennsylvania: Looking ahead to 2026

The state budget process for this year was brutal, but in the end, underfunded school districts in Pennsylvania received their second installment of new funding.  Unfortunately, the addition of such new money must continue for the next seven years if we are to expect every school district in the state to have enough money to properly educate their student bodies. 

The state senate was the major stumbling block that prevented this new money from being available on a timely basis this year; and, as agreeable as it was to see the new infusion of cash for underfunded schools, there were some severe concessions that the state house and the governor made to finalize this budget – the most notable being the lack of new money for public transportation, and the withdrawal of Pennsylvania from the Regional Greenhouse gas Initiative. 

Since half of the senate seats will be up for election in 2026, the next budget process promises to be smoother than the one that has recently ended.  But in 2027, we can expect the same kind of recalcitrance from the senate that we have seen in 2025, unless the ideological mix of that body changes.  We should think about those state senators close to home who catered to their party leaders rather than to their constituents.  

Jarrett Coleman in the Lehigh Valley, Frank Farry in Bucks County, and Tracy Pennycuick in Montco and Berks are all up for re-election.  They need to address public transportation issues in the next budget, as well as the state’s production of 1% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.  We should also pressure these legislators into assuring that additional money for underfunded school districts is automatic, and not something that education advocates need to fight for on a year-by-year basis.

If you, or anybody you know is a constituent of these senators, please contact them and let them know how you feel about public transportation, the environment, and K-12 education.

Their contact information is

Jarrett Coleman (SD 16)

Capital Address

459 Main Capitol Building

Harrisburg, PA 17120Phone: (717) 787-1349

District Address7535 Windsor Dr.

Suite 200-B

Allentown, PA 18106Phone: (484) 861-4964

Email: Jcoleman@pasen.gov

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Frank Farry (SD 6)

Capitol Address

351 Main Capitol

Senate Box 203006

Harrisburg, PA 17120-3006

(717) 787-5072

District Address

370 East Maple Avenue

Suite 203

Langhorne, PA 19047

(215) 638-1784

Email: ffarry@pasen.gov

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Tracy Pennycuick (SD 24)

Capitol Address

16 East Wing

Senate Box 203024

Harrisburg, PA 17120-3024(717) 787-3110

District Address

56 W. 4th Street

Floor 2

Red Hill, PA 18076

(215) 541-2388

Email: tpennycuick@pasen.gov