Heffley: 130-Day Budget Delay Shows Failure of Leadership

November 13, 2025

HARRISBURG - Rep. Doyle Heffley (R-Carbon) issued this statement following his approval of the 2025-20 Pennsylvania state budget, ending a more than 130-day delay.

"It's time this budget is done, period. The delays caused by the governor and House Democrats were unacceptable.

"This budget bill isn't perfect, but it does deliver critical, and immediate, funding to schools, counties and human service providers.

"Here is what I believe are some key takeaways from this budget and the overall agreement:

• We can unleash Pennsylvania energy because the budget calls for us to exit the job-killing, overly burdensome Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). It also prevents a $2.5 billion energy tax, lowering utility costs and boosting job growth.
• We are ensuring benefit integrity to make sure taxpayer dollars go to individuals who truly need them. The measures include creating a more accountable and secure process to reduce failures in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), such as transitioning to chip-enabled benefit cards and reviewing how benefits are distributed.
• We are investing in our schools to ensure all students have access to a high-quality education through expanded school choice, scholarships for students in underperforming schools and funding for the SHINE After School program.
• We are making progress on permitting reform, including streamlined processes that support both environmental protection and economic development, while keeping zoning and planning decisions under local control.

"I am concerned with the overall spending in the budget, but this is the best deal we were going to get for now."

Representative Doyle Heffley
122nd District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Andrew Forgotch
717.772.9905
[email protected]
RepHeffley.com / Facebook.com/RepHeffley