PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Gov. Josh Shapiro served breakfast at a South Philadelphia school Friday to push his spending plan for K-12 schools, as a state budget deadline approaches at the end of the month.
"Who's hungry?" Shapiro asked as he handed out boxed breakfasts and milk cartons to kids at George W. Childs Elementary School in Point Breeze.
The governor's $48 billion budget proposal includes more than $46 million to continue the universal breakfast program, which provides breakfast to all public school students, regardless of income.
"It was really joyful for me to come out and serve breakfast this morning,” he said, “and as we go into our next budget, making sure that we can continue to fund these important initiatives."
State Senator Anthony Williams, state Rep. Jordan Harris, Pennsylvania Education Secretary Khalid Mumin, and Philadelphia Schools Superintendent Tony Watlington joined Shapiro.
Pennsylvania has a $14 billion budget surplus. Harris, the House Appropriations Committee chair, said the Democrat-controlled House and the Republican-led Senate should be able to agree on a budget before the June 30 deadline.
"It's good to see that everybody agrees that we have the resources to invest in Pennsylvania. So because of that, we should not have a problem getting the budget done on time. Now, that doesn't mean we won't."
Shapiro called the current budget talks "productive" and said in terms of progress, the two sides are ahead of where they were this time last year when there wasn't a budget agreement until August.
"For us to get anything done, on education or any other issue, we've got to compromise," Shapiro said. "And no one's going to get everything they want."