HARRISBURG, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — Republican leaders in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives called on Gov. Josh Shapiro to implement a budgeting plan he used while he was a Montgomery County commissioner — by praising him for doing such a good job with it.
York County Republican state Rep. Dawn Keefer said she introduced a zero-based budgeting bill for each of the past three legislative sessions. She noted that when she joined the state House in 2017, the budget was about $32 billion, while this year’s proposed budget would be around $48 billion.
Keefer said zero-based budgeting requires every state agency to start from zero, then explain why they need each dollar they’re asking for, rather than just asking for an increase in funding.
“The agencies determine what their core purpose and mission is,” she said, “and then the agencies have to align each action with those core missions, assess what their needs are, their costs and the efficacy of each program that they have.”
Shapiro implemented zero-based budgeting while chair of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners, according to Keefer.
“He started the budget year with a $10 million hole that he had to cover and a $49 million structural deficit. When he was done with his zero-based budgeting that he had implemented, he had a $1.6 million reserve,” she said.
Zero-based budgeting at the state level could be much more challenging, she said, especially in the current political environment. She said she understands why the governor didn’t push for zero based budgeting after he took office last year.
“This is a heavy lift, zero-based budgeting for somebody just starting out in the administration,” said Keefer.
“But we're 14 months in and there's still been no action. In fact, there's just been the complete opposite. It's more spending, more growth — one of the greatest levels of spending growth that we've seen.”
Keefer’s legislation is part of a package of GOP budget bills that Republican lawmakers have called “back to basics.”