PA Budget Delays Hard Choices as More Federal Cuts Loom, Lawmakers Can’t Avoid Tax Fairness Forever
PENNSYLVANIA – On Sunday, Governor Shapiro signed Pennsylvania’s 2026-27 state budget into law.
The budget comes as federal cuts are dismantling lifeline programs that Pennsylvania families rely on to make ends meet. An estimated 160,000 people dropped their Pennie health insurance due to rising costs, and 236,000 people lost their SNAP benefit in Pennsylvania.
Ray Murphy, co-director of Pennsylvanians for Accountability from Yass, Billionaires and Corporations (PAYBAC) which leads the Tax Billionaires, Fund PA campaign, said:
“Another round of Medicaid and SNAP cuts from Trump and Congress will hit on January 1, and this budget doesn’t prepare for what’s coming.
“There was bipartisan support for making Google, Meta, TikTok, and Amazon pay their fair share and help stabilize families in the affordability crisis. But at the eleventh hour, the legislature and Governor walked away from more than $500 million a year in recurring new revenue. They can’t do that again next year.
“In 2027 Governor Shapiro and the legislature will have to make a choice: Stand up to Big Tech, or allow families to go hungry and forgo medical care when the federal axe comes down even harder on Medicaid and SNAP.”
In June, the Tax Billionaires, Fund PA campaign led the charge for a digital ad tax on Big Tech that passed the House in a bipartisan vote (139-63). The bill would bring in about $500 million of new, recurring revenue to the state by expanding Pennsylvania’s existing five percent Gross Receipts Tax to include digital advertising platforms like Google and Meta.
The bill reflects broad public sentiment: 72 percent of Americans support a Big Tech tax, and six in ten express frustration that wealthy corporations don’t pay their fair share. Bipartisan support for the bill also reflected Pennsylvanians’ frustrations with huge tech companies building data centers and cluttering screens with data-collecting ads.
The digital ad tax on Big Tech is part of the Tax Billionaires, Fund PA package, a proactive revenue agenda that would raise nearly $6 billion in new revenue by closing corporate tax loopholes, taxing billionaires’ unearned income, and requiring Big Tech to pay taxes on the digital ads that profit off Pennsylvania consumers and their data. The full package has the support of 48 legislators and a growing coalition of labor and community organizations across the state.
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Pennsylvanians for Accountability from Yass, Billionaires and Corporations (PAYBAC) Table is a coalition of state-wide organizations that lead the All Eyes on Yass and Tax Billionaires, Fund PA campaigns.
Tax Billionaires, Fund PA is endorsed by the Action Center on Race and the Economy, Center for Coalfield Justice, Free the Ballot, Little Sis, Make the Road PA, One Pennsylvania, PA United, Pennsylvania Stands Up, PA Local Progress, PA Working Families Power, SEIU State Council, SEIU 32BJ, SEIU 668 and SEIU Healthcare PA.
Additional supporters include: 1Hood, 215 People’s Alliance, American Federation of Teacher Local 2026, Amistad Law Project, Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance (API PA), Healing Communities PA, High School Democrats of Philadelphia, Philly Black Worker Project, Pennsylvania Immigration Coalition, Philadelphia Neighborhood Networks, Philadelphia Unemployment Project, POWER Interfaith, Reclaim Philadelphia, Transit for All PA!, UUJusticePA and VietLead.
The PAYBAC Table Steering Committee includes ACRE Campaigns, PA Working Families, POWER, PA Stands Up, OnePA, Free the Ballot, Make the Road Action PA and more.
