Guy Ciarrocchi: Part-time Governor Shapiro promotes cotton candy budget.

Governor Shapiro graciously paused his 2028 Presidential campaign (masquerading as a national book tour) to offer his 2026 Pennsylvania budget address. 

Shapiro, his $2 million taxpayer-funded (and growing) communications team and an army of consultants — sadly — offered us cotton candy.

A fluffy, quick sugar rush that soon leaves you looking for something substantive to fill your stomach, and — if you eat too much — eventually leads to cavities, bringing pain and lots of expensive bills.

Unfortunately, those of us living here in US News & World Report’s 41st “best state” who are looking for an actual plan for our families, we were given Democratic, focus-grouped promises lacking commonsense messaging. A train wreck.

In fairness, it’s only a “train wreck” if you care about affordability, jobs, education — and, you hope that your children and grandchildren have the option to have careers in Pennsylvania.

On the other hand, if you’re willing to have electric and heating prices rise just to advance the Left’s ideology using our taxes to prop up unreliable “green energy,” want to punish energy producers creating reliable energy, are willing to pay more in taxes for things we can’t afford and don’t need, want to keep paying for Medicaid for illegal immigrants and able-bodied, single adults, want to follow the teachers union’s playbook to limit parents’ authority and school choice, and are willing to use all our savings, legalize “recreational” marijuana, and tax American Legion fundraisers to pay for this madness — then you won!

By his own projections — for the fourth year in a row, Shapiro presented a multi-billion-dollar-deficit budget. The bigger problem is that — if he gets his wish — there would be no savings left next year.

Then what happens in 2027? Massive tax increases, draconian cuts, or a lot of both. No worries, his “budget” sells to the Democratic activists in Iowa and New Hampshire.

But, that’s nothing compared to ignoring energy affordability and reliability. Putting forth his…fourth? fifth? sixth?…different position on Pennsylvania energy, presidential candidate “flip flop” sadly has chosen the path of left-wing ideology over common sense. His plan would tax (punish) those who now produce energy to keep our lights on, heat our homes and power our hospitals, schools and factories. Guess who would pay those taxes? 

Shapiro wants our taxes to artificially subsidize “green energy” corporations, which most honest analysts acknowledge are not actually green, nor reliable. 

On the heels of the blizzard and weeks of single-digit wind chills, every Pennsylvania should ask: What would we do if Shapiro got his wish — 50 percent “green” energy?! With freezing temperatures and mountains of snow covering solar panels? Spain and Portugal tried this: they had major blackouts. Germany tried to get there, then slammed on the brakes and are racing to restart coal-fired electric plants.

Remember this left-wing, vote-chasing, common sense-lacking scheme is all the worse for Pennsylvanians, having more natural gas energy than Saudi Arabia oil, plus we have coal (and 2026 coal use looks nothing like 1986 coal use).

Then, Shapiro’s ideological wrecking ball strikes parents and education.

Having run on a platform of school choice, having told the nation repeatedly “in Pennsylvania every one of God’s children deserves a shot,” looking at waiting lists for charter schools that are larger than the Pittsburgh School District, seeing that online cyber charter schools are growing every week, knowing that Pennsylvania’s three-decade old Education Scholarship program is a national model and is so popular that there are almost as many children on waiting lists as those who get scholarships due to existing caps…

Shapiro looked at all that and — ignoring all of his promises — put forth a hit list that runs 180 degrees from his promises, and what parents are demanding by sitting on waiting lists. Hoping. Praying. And, crying when they lose out.

Shapiro urges a third-straight year of multi-million dollar funding cuts to cyber students — the only funding cuts in any program he’s ever offered! No expansion of the education tax credit program, no plans to access up to $1 billion in federal education scholarships for Pennsylvanians, and his budget takes away tax credit scholarships from parents who chose parochial, private, or Jewish Day Schools and hands them over to the teachers union.

Shapiro could have put forth a bipartisan plan: to expand charter schools, to expand tax credit scholarships, and to restore some of his draconian cuts to cyber students — while increasing traditional district funding. Such a plan would earn over 60 percent bipartisan support (or more) in both chambers — if Democratic legislators from Philly, Reading, and Scranton voted their conscience.

Shapiro could have put forth an energy plan taking advantage of the natural gas and precious minerals that we have in our state, gaining overwhelming support from the GOP, western and northeastern Pennsylvania Democratic legislators — plus building trades unions from South Philly to Pittsburgh. 

His focus could have been on affordability — lowering energy costs — and job creation, with countless jobs in energy, manufacturing, sciences and those supporting them.

He could have offered a budget that would help Pennsylvanians today and offer hope for tomorrow, with bipartisan support, all while honoring his campaign platform.

But that message doesn’t play with Iowa Democrat activists or on The View.

Maybe he should skip running for re-election, and just run for President. Then, we’ll get a Governor who wants to be our Governor — with a platform focused on us.

Guy Ciarrocchi is a Senior Fellow with the Commonwealth Foundation. He writes for RealClear Pennsylvania and Broad + Liberty. Follow Guy at @PaSuburbsGuy.