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Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania is flush with surplus cash, but it still faces a looming budget problem
This story originally appeared on Spotlight PA.
Gov. Josh Shapiro wants to spend $3.5 billion of Pennsylvania’s surplus to stabilize transit systems, fund a court-mandated K-12 education overhaul, and expand the state’s economic development programs as part of his second budget proposal.
The state can afford such an expense. It has built up roughly $14 billion in financial reserves over the past four years, thanks to stimulus dollars and strong tax returns.
But if Pennsylvania had to rely solely on the tax revenue the Shapiro administration projects to bring in over the next few years, it wouldn’t be able to cover the tab.
That’s because Pennsylvania has a structural deficit. The state’s annual costs, such as paying public servants and providing health care to people who can’t afford it, consistently exceed the state’s annual tax revenue.
No government can avoid tax revenues periodically dipping, analysts noted. But long-term budget challenges like Pennsylvania’s can hollow out public services and burden local governments with covering unmet costs.
“Even without new initiatives, you have rising costs,” said William Glasgall, senior director of public finance at Volcker Alliance, a good-government group. “And if the projection of revenues does not match that, you have a structural deficit.”
Unlike the federal government, Pennsylvania cannot go into debt to cover its annual operating expenses. The state constitution prohibits the commonwealth from taking on debt except in a few specific scenarios, such as for disaster relief.
That essentially leaves lawmakers with two choices: spend less or bring in more money.
Instead, Pennsylvania’s divided executive and legislative branches have employed a variety of techniques that experts say hide the real cost of government. That includes accounting gimmicks, delaying payments to state contractors, leaving job openings unfilled, or flat funding key programs to make the numbers work.
“If you’re serving a larger population with the same number of workers, or if you have costs that are going up and your budget stays flat, often that means that effectively public services have been reduced,” said Josh Goodman, a fiscal health researcher with the Pew Charitable Trusts.
When the state punts on funding increases for education and other services, those costs are passed to counties, school districts, and nonprofits that rely on state dollars, Glasgall said.
Pennsylvania’s failure to meaningfully deal with its structural deficit may also have serious consequences if it needs to borrow money. Glasgall said lenders would “catch on” and see the state as a bad fiscal bet, and increase the cost to borrow.
As lawmakers begin negotiating this year’s budget deal in earnest, few are talking about the tax hikes or spending cuts that would be necessary to permanently bring the commonwealth’s finances in order.
And while the state has extra money available now, those dollars could quickly disappear if Pennsylvania continues spending at its current rate.
Pennsylvania’s primary revenue sources are broad-based taxes on sales and income for individuals and businesses, but so far Shapiro hasn’t proposed increasing these. In fact, he’s argued that Pennsylvania should more quickly implement cuts to its corporate net income tax.
Shapiro has avoided talking about the structural deficit while pitching his spending ideas, instead emphasizing the size of the state’s surplus and the need to invest it in communities.
“Look, it is not a badge of honor, nor is it something to be politically proud of for some lawmakers out there to say, ‘I took more money from the good people of Pennsylvania than I needed and then bragged about how I just kept it in some bank account here in the Capitol,’” Shapiro said in his budget address.
Republicans in the state legislature have pushed back, saying that the state should cut spending rather than tap its savings. They also argue that sitting on money is fiscally prudent.
State Senate Appropriations Chair Scott Martin (R., Lancaster) noted that Pennsylvania earns interest on its surplus and that spending it down would decrease returns. He added that spending surplus funds would not be a sustainable solution to the state’s structural deficit.
“We’re going to be in big trouble if we think that we can spend this entire surplus,” Martin told Spotlight PA. “We would just create a much bigger hole.”
How did we get here?
The commonwealth’s surplus is split between its rainy day fund, which is essentially a long-term savings account that requires a two-thirds vote of the legislature to tap, and its general fund. The latter is effectively its main checking account and accrues most state tax revenue.
Experts have said that states should keep about 12% to 15% of their total annual costs in a rainy day fund; this year, the target would be about $7 billion in Pennsylvania. But just five years ago, it contained only $22 million — enough to run the state government for just a few hours.
The fund was depleted during the Great Recession under Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell. After federal stimulus dollars ran out, lawmakers struggled during Republican Gov. Tom Corbett’s four years in office and Democrat Tom Wolf’s first term to balance the budget.
Corbett, who had pledged not to raise taxes, largely tried to deal with the financial situation by supporting spending cuts.
The enacted cuts included a 10% reduction in funding for county human services, and, most significantly, a $1 billion reduction in funding for education. Corbett and his allies argued the latter was necessary because the Rendell administration had used stimulus money to prop up the budget. Regardless, the strategy made Corbett unpopular and he lost his reelection bid to Wolf.
New taxes or increases to existing ones have played a small role in solving recent budget woes. Wolf proposed increasing the state’s flat income tax rate and taxing natural gas drillers by the volume of gas extracted, but the then-GOP-controlled legislature didn’t bite.
Instead, Wolf and the legislature balanced the books and raised one-time revenue through a mix of temporary solutions, like issuing new casino licenses and borrowing against the state’s share of tobacco settlement revenue.
The state has also delayed payments or purposefully undercounted projected Medicaid expenses to appear to balance annual budgets.
In 2017, for instance, Republicans agreed to a budget that was underfunded by hundreds of millions of dollars, and gave Wolf the authority to fill the gap by drawing money from the state’s special funds for things like transportation.
Wolf, who opposed that approach, instead borrowed money from a venture capital company against the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg, leaving the state on the hook to pay back $191 million in interest for decades to come.
The Luzerne County Sports Hall of Fame’s 42nd annual induction banquet will be held Sunday, June 7, at Mohegan Pennsylvania, where 10 new inductees will take their place among the region’s greatest athletes across all sports.
The inductees are: Bree Bednarski, Brianna Pizzano and Frank Redmond, graduates of Wyoming Area; Allie Barber, Pittston Area; Ed Keil, West Side Vocational-Technical School; Joseph Kemmerer, Crestwood; Karen Krysiewski Day, Wyoming Valley West; Addy Malatesta, Berwick Area; Bobby Sura, Wilkes-Barre GAR; and Eddie White, III, Bishop Hoban.
The hall will also present the following honors: Neil Corbett, founding member of The Citizens’ Voice and its longtime sports editor, will receive the Media Award; Mary Kelly, Hazleton Area’s winningest field hockey coach, will receive the Tracey Tribendis “Profile of Courage” Award; and Jeffrey Swire, co-founder and president of Patriots Cove, will receive the Sam Falcone Community Service Award.
Additionally, the hall will recognize this year’s scholar-athletes — Tucker Blasi of Sullivan County, Addisyn Bly of Wyalusing Valley, Joseph Mayernik of MMI Prep — and Evelyn Sheer of Hazleton Area, winner of the HERizon Award, presented to the most outstanding female wrestler in the Wyoming Valley Conference.
“The Luzerne County Sports Hall of Fame has been busy in recent weeks presenting scholarships to graduating high school seniors, donating supplies and funds to community organizations and making all preparations that need to be in place for this year’s banquet,” said James T. Martin, Jr., president. “It promises to be a fun night of camaraderie and appreciation for some of the men and women who have greatly impacted local and national sports over the past few decades.”
Inductees
• Allie Barber
A Pittston native, Barber played a key role in major team successes in multiple sports in high school and college. She developed her athletic foundation at an early age through constant exposure to sports alongside her family.
Barber scored a Pittston Area record 159 career goals in soccer and was a 2013 Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association all-state selection. She also led the Patriots to the District 2 Class 3A championship. In basketball, she scored over 1,000 career points and won a district title. She also competed in track and field for three seasons at Pittston Area, which won a district title in that sport, as well.
Barber continued her soccer career at Bloomsburg University, where she appeared in every game, recorded 19 goals and 20 assists and started the final 59 consecutive contests of her career. She was part of teams that won a regular-season title, a conference championship, an Atlantic Regional title and made the Elite Eight. She also played one season of basketball.
While at Bloomsburg, Barber was named a United Soccer Coaches second-team All-American and a first-team Scholar All-American. She also earned the school’s Eleanor Wray Senior Female Athlete of the Year award.
• Bree Bednarski
One of the Wyoming Valley’s most accomplished multi-sport athletes, Bednarski established herself as one of the nation’s premier field hockey players while also excelling in softball and track and field.
Bednarski concluded her remarkable field hockey career at Wyoming Area with 127 goals and 37 assists, setting program records for goals in a game, season and career. Her 67-goal senior season in 2015 set a state record and earned her Wyoming Valley Conference Player of the Year honors from The Citizens’ Voice. She was also a three-time all-state selection and member of the U.S. U17 national team. Bednarski continued her collegiate career at the University of Michigan and Penn State.
In addition to her field hockey success, Bednarski was an all-state softball player and was named the Times Leader’s 2016 WVC Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year. In that postseason, she won four medals at the District 2 championships — gold in the 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash and 4×100 relay and silver in the javelin.
As Bednarski’s playing career ended, her coaching career began. She was named Wyoming Area’s head field hockey coach in 2022 and has led her Alma mater to new heights, including multiple district and WVC championships.
• Ed Keil
Keil’s life in golf is a story of service and lasting impact, beginning at West Side Vocational-Technical School. Keil was a golf captain and team MVP at West Side Tech before serving in the U.S. Air Force, where he competed on the golf team at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.
Returning home in 1978, Keil began working as the golf course superintendent at Lehman Golf Club and enrolled at Penn State Wilkes-Barre, where he obtained a degree in engineering while continuing to work.
Keil was named Penn State Wilkes-Barre’s head golf coach in 1988, beginning a historic career that has included 38 years at the helm with 51 tournament victories and eight conference championships. In 2025, he was named head golf coach at Penn State Hazleton while continuing his duties at Penn State Wilkes-Barre. Between the two programs, he has coached 137 all-conference or all-state golfers and 195 academic all-conference selections. He has also coached bowling at Penn State Wilkes-Barre.
Beyond coaching, Keil built a parallel legacy in golf operations and instruction as a superintendent and instructor. He has also won more than 100 individual and team tournaments as a golfer, including two club championships at Lehman Golf Club.
• Joseph Kemmerer
Kemmerer was introduced to wrestling at age 6 at the Wilkes-Barre YMCA. In addition to making lifelong friends at an early age, Kemmerer learned skills and techniques that set the foundation for a long and successful career in a sport that influenced virtually every aspect of his life in some way.
Kemmerer wrestled at Crestwood High School. As a senior, he went undefeated (38-0) and won the 2004 PIAA Class 3A state championship at 119 pounds. He also won three District 2 championships and graduated with a 102-7 record.
Following high school, Kemmerer first attended the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He was the Southern Conference champion at 125 pounds as a freshman. He transferred to Kutztown University, where he won two NCAA Division II national championships and compiled a 60-4 record. Kemmerer furthered his education at Liberty University, where he served as a graduate assistant coach while training and ultimately competing on an international stage.
Kemmerer remains involved in the sport. He runs a successful wrestling club — Nova Wrestling Club — that has won championships in folkstyle, freestyle and Greco-Roman.
• Karen Krysiewski Day
A standout swimmer at the high school and collegiate levels, Krysiewski Day’s competitive swimming career began at the Wilkes-Barre YMCA. Soon, she entered the USA swimming circuit with the newly formed FAST Swim Club and emerged as an elite distance swimmer.
After helping Wyoming Valley West win four consecutive District 2 girls swimming team championships — and graduating as the program record-holder in six events with four individual district gold medals as a senior — Krysiewski Day matriculated to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
At UNC, Krysiewski Day competed under legendary coach Frank Comfort and she transitioned into the grueling world of collegiate long-distance swimming. She remembers this as one of the most challenging and transformative periods of her life. She was a member of two ACC championship teams. She graduated in 1999, carrying into her professional life the discipline and integrated approach to wellness that she developed as a Tar Heel.
• Adelene Addy Malatesta
Malatesta has dedicated nearly five decades to education, coaching and athletic leadership, leaving a lasting impact on student-athletes at Wilkes University and across Northeastern Pennsylvania and beyond.
Malatesta was a standout student-athlete at Berwick Area High School, where her coaches served as significant influences. Malatesta’s basketball coach, Joan Voveris, was an accomplished musician and teacher. Her field hockey coach, Dr. Betty Henry, rose to the title of superintendent of Berwick Area schools. Her softball coach, Paul Stenko, was a former Chicago Bear who returned home to teach and coach.
Malatesta pursued a degree from Slippery Rock University before returning to Berwick as a teacher and coach. She guided Berwick’s field hockey program in 1981 to a PIAA District 4 championship while also earning a master’s degree from East Stroudsburg University.
After coaching and teaching at SUNY Potsdam, Malatesta returned home in 1989 as head field hockey coach at Wilkes. Over 14 seasons, her teams won 140 games and multiple conference titles. She also served 23 years as Wilkes’ director of athletics, overseeing major facility enhancements and the growth of the athletic department to 23 varsity sports.
Malatesta is a member of both the Wilkes and Berwick Area Athletic Halls of Fame.
• Brianna Pizzano
Pizzano began playing tennis at age 3, taking her first lesson at Kingston Indoor Tennis Club. She quickly demonstrated the ability to compete beyond her age and was playing in — and winning — local and regional tournaments by age 8.
At Wyoming Area, Pizzano competed in both tennis and softball. She won two District 2 championships as a freshman and sophomore in singles play as a Warrior. In softball, she was an all-state shortstop who posted a .457 batting average as a junior; her senior season was canceled due to COVID-19.
Pizzano continued her tennis career at Misericordia University, where she was named MAC Freedom Player of the Year in all four seasons. She was also recognized as the conference’s Senior Scholar-Athlete and ranked No. 36 among the university’s top athletes of the century. She won conference championships in singles and doubles play and lost only once in regular-season play throughout her career.
She remains actively involved in the sport she loves, providing private tennis instruction to children and adults of all ages.
• Frank Redmond
Having been introduced to track and field as a seventh-grade student at Wyoming Area, Redmond soon captured a junior high championship that set the tone for an impressive high school and collegiate career.
Redmond recorded three top-10 finishes for the Warriors at the District 2 Cross Country Championships. On the track, he steadily improved each season and his achievements included qualifying for the PIAA state championships in the 800-meter race as a junior.
Redmond continued his running career at Misericordia University, where he took a significant step forward. He was named Misericordia’s Most Valuable Player four times in cross country and three times in track. He earned All-America honors in 2010 with a fifth-place finish in the 800-meter race at the NCAA Division III national championships. He earned 20 All-MAC honors across indoor and outdoor track and was a six-time All-ECAC selection. Following graduation, Redmond served as a graduate assistant coach at Misericordia while completing his master’s degree and competing in regional road races.
• Bobby Sura
A native of Wilkes-Barre, Sura is among the most decorated high school, collegiate and professional basketball players to ever come out of Northeastern Pennsylvania.
Sura’s GAR Grenadiers won three District 2 championships in four years and advanced to the PIAA state championship game his junior and senior seasons. As a senior, he averaged 34 points per game and was named the Associated Press Small School Player of the Year in Pennsylvania. He scored a GAR record 2,468 points.
From GAR, Sura enrolled at Florida State and was named the ACC Rookie of the Year as a freshman. As a sophomore, he scored 19.9 points per game and helped the Seminoles make the Elite Eight. He remains Florida State’s all-time leader in career points and minutes played.
The Cleveland Cavaliers selected Sura in the first round of the 1995 NBA Draft. He competed in the 1996 All-Rookie Game, the 1997 Slam Dunk Contest and the 2000 Three-Point Contest. He retired after 10 seasons in the NBA, recording 5,654 points, 2,474 assists and 2,240 rebounds.
In 1999, Times Leader readers participated in a poll that ranked Sura the No. 6 local athlete of the century. In 2002, The Citizens’ Voice ranked Sura as the No. 2 athlete of all-time from the Wyoming Valley. He was inducted in 2003 into the Florida State Athletics Hall of Fame.
• Eddie White III
White’s prolific and distinguished career has been defined by a deep-rooted passion for sports, shaped in the Wyoming Valley as a graduate of Bishop Hoban High School and Wilkes University.
After graduating from Wilkes, where he worked as an undergraduate with the school’s athletic office, newspaper and radio station, White served his Alma mater as a full-time director of sports information. White quickly rose through the ranks of sports communications and marketing, working for major brands and organizations in college and professional athletics, including Notre Dame and the Miami Dolphins.
White moved to Indiana, working for the sportswear company Logo 7/Logo Athletic. He was eventually hired by the first all-sports radio station in Indianapolis — ESPN The Fan — and hosted its afternoon drive show while also working numerous Super Bowls and then landing at Pacers Sports and Entertainment. He has worked the last 15 years for the NBA’s Pacers and WNBA’s Fever in various media and public relations capacities and he currently hosts Pacers Overtime, the team’s postgame radio show.
White’s grandfather, Eddie White, Sr., the legendary Wilkes-Barre Barons basketball coach, was inducted into the Luzerne County Sports Hall of Fame in 1986.
MIFFLIN COUNTY, Pa. (WHP) — A Mifflin County man was arrested Thursday after Pennsylvania State Police say he dumped oil on a vending machine and rubbed raw chicken on the door of a nearby business.
Timothy Peachey, 33, is accused of committing the acts on May 17 on East John Street in McVeytown, according to a state police release.
The oil caused an estimated $10,843 in damages to the vending machine and the items inside of it, troopers said.
Peachey allegedly rubbed raw chicken on the front glass door of McVeytown Market. The reason for these actions is unknown.
Peachey is charged with criminal mischief — a third-degree felony due to the total property damage — as well as a misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct and a summary offense for scattering rubbish.
He was released on bail and is awaiting a preliminary hearing, according to his court docket.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) — A Luzerne County legislator introduced a bill this week intended to allow local governments to place a moratorium on data center applications.
Rep. Jamie Walsh (R-Luzerne) introduced House Bill 2533 on Wednesday.
“Our municipalities, which decide local land use policies, have struggled to understand the myriad environmental and community impacts of this new industry and to review and revise their zoning ordinances to keep up with the influx of interest from data center developers,” Walsh said in a co-sponsorship memorandum. “I am therefore proposing to give municipalities the option of placing a moratorium on data center applications so that, if they choose, they can revise their ordinances and establish conditional use policies addressing issues like power supply, water consumption, noise and setbacks which they determine protect the community’s interest.”
It is a companion bill, he said, to Senator Jarrett Coleman (R-Bucks/Lehigh)’s Senate Bill 1345.
They both would allow an 18-month moratorium on both unapproved and new data center applications.
The two legislators also introduced legislation they say would repeal the state Computer Data Center Equipment Exemption program enacted in 2021, which the legislators say incentivizes data centers to locate in Pennsylvania by exempting computer data center equipment from the Sales and Use Tax when it is sold to, used or consumed in a certified data center by an owner, operator or qualified tenant. This is in the form of House Bill 2532 and Senate Bill 1344 respectively.
“While we all appreciate the technological advances that are driving the development of new data centers, I am certain most Pennsylvanians want a more thoughtful approach to where and under what requirements they can operate and don’t want to subsidize them with tax incentives,” said Coleman. “The bills Rep. Walsh and I partnered on will do just that.”
Data centers have been a hot topic issue across Pennsylvania as communities have rallied to oppose developments, including in Columbia and in the Annville area.
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