Nov 19 Final PA Budget 2025-2026

Nov 19h in Bold Voices by

(November 19, 2025)

As the impasse moved into its fifth month, on November 12, Pennsylvania finally completed the state budget. The finalized funding package totals $50.1 billion, a 4.6% increase over last year’s budget, and includes bright spots for children and families.

Jump to:
Education & Lifelong Success
Family & Community Supports
Health & Wellness

Education & Lifelong Success

Basic Education Funding: A big bright spot in the final budget is the increase of $670 million in basic education funding (BEF). BEF is the largest source of classroom funding for public schools. This increase is substantial and builds on the increases from last year.

Ready to Learn Block Grants: For the second year in a row, the budget allocates $565 million in adequacy funds for our most struggling schools. The majority of this funding will be delivered via Ready to Learn Block Grants formula, while $105 million of the allocation will be delivered through the BEF formula. These funds replace the Level-Up supplement that was included in previous budgets and were a recommendation included in The BEF Commission’s finalized report.

Special Education Funding: The budget includes a $40 million increase, bringing the allocation to $1.5 billion.

Career and Technical Education: CTE was level-funded in this year’s budget. This is an area of disappointment as more funds in the CTE space are desperately needed to help address the current and future workforce. Read more about CTE in Allies for Children’s recently released paper.

Cyber Charter Schools: Through cyber charter school reform, the budget estimates $178 million in savings for school districts.

Out-of-School Time: For the second year, the state budget included $11.5 million in dedicated funding for the Building Opportunity through Out of School Time program (BOOST). Last year was the first time the state has allocated funding directly for out-of-school time programming. The Governor had proposed doubling the funds for the program back in February, but ultimately, in the final budget the BOOST program was level-funded. The good news is that this line item continues to be preserved and we will continue to advocate for additional funds. To learn more about the BOOST program, click here or see Allegheny Partners for Out-of-School Time’s (APOST) website.

Family & Community Supports

Child Care: To help address the workforce crisis in the child care and early childhood spaces, a new line item for Child Care Recruitment and Retention was created. This line item, funded at $25 million in recurring funds will provide a direct payment of at least $450 to each child care teacher and para-professional who works in a child care program that services children in the subsidized Child Care Works program.

Child Welfare: The county child welfare budget line was level-funded. This flat funding is the result of a needs-based budgeting process, and is likely due to the underspending due to staffing shortages.

Home Visiting: Most home visiting programs received flat funding via the Community Based Family Center budget line. However, the Nurse Family Partnership program received a small decrease in funding due to changes in the federal match.

Pre-K: The Pre-K Counts program received $9.5 million in new state funding, focused on providing a rate increase for programs. Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program (HSSAP) received level-funding.

Health & Wellness

Mental Health: The budget provides level funding at $100 million for school security and mental health supports in school districts.

Nutrition: Under the School Food Services line item, school meals received level funding. Also included was $2 million for a new state Food Bucks program, which is intended to supplement SNAP. The budget also included $5 million in new funding to PA food banks.

Early Intervention: A $41.7 million increase for early intervention programs was allocated in this year’s budget. The increase includes $13.2 million for the Part C – infants and toddlers program administered through the Department of Human Services. $10 million of the $13.2 million is dedicated to increase provider rates to address key challenges in the sector, including workforce shortages.

Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and Medicaid: A 1% decrease for the CHIP program was included in the final budget. This is due to funds allocated in 2024-25 to cover CHIP that are no longer required in this fiscal year. The budget includes $747 million in new funding for Pennsylvania’s Medicaid Managed Care program. This funding addresses rate increases for managed care plans and to support direct care workers.

Allies for Children continues to monitor details of funding for essential children’s programs across Pennsylvania over the next fiscal year. To learn more about the state budget, take a look at these resources:

Jamie Baxter, Allies for Children Executive Director