- In 2024, Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro faces challenges in his second year leading Pennsylvania.
- Mr. Shapiro is under pressure to address a court ruling that found Pennsylvania's public school funding system unconstitutional.
- His administration must also oversee presidential elections.
In 2024, Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro will lead Pennsylvania in a first year that has brought crumbling highways, budget gridlock, and friction between allies and adversaries as he navigates the battleground state's political divide. The second year in charge may face an even more complex situation.
He is under pressure to respond to a court ruling that found Pennsylvania's public school funding system unconstitutionally discriminates against poor districts.
The administration also won a presidential election that was marred four years ago by a barrage of right-wing conspiracy theories, a coordinated court effort with Donald Trump to overturn them, and threats against election officials. must be supervised.
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And Mr. Shapiro, seen nationally as a rising political star, must navigate the nation's only politically divided Congress, where allies and adversaries alike are wary of him.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro speaks to The Associated Press in his office at the State Capitol on December 20, 2023 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. In response to calls for more funding for poor public schools, Mr. Shapiro may have to compromise on a new $100 million taxpayer-paid voucher program for private and religious schools. there is. (AP Photo/Daniel Shanken)
In his first year in office, Mr. Shapiro has shown himself to be a low-key politician who takes a hands-off approach inside the state Capitol and tries to avoid political battles he may not be able to win.
He has often emphasized the need to win approval from both the Democratic-controlled House and the Republican-controlled Senate, focusing less on his broader agenda and more on what his administration has accomplished, an administration he says will “get it done.” We focused on what we called. There is a stalemate between the parties.
In 2024, Mr. Shapiro has little runway on how to respond to calls from public school advocates to propose billions of dollars in new funding for the poorest public schools.
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“I'm very mindful of the Commonwealth Court's judgment, and I'm very mindful that we need to make our system more fair. I also want to make sure that someone has to pay the price. That's something I'm very mindful of,” Shapiro told The Associated Press in a recent interview in his office. .
A compromise could require Democrats to accept what they just lost: a new $100 million taxpayer-funded voucher program to subsidize tuition at private and religious schools.
Republican lawmakers are wary of adding billions of dollars to public school spending. But they are aligned with Shapiro in pushing for voucher programs, a position that makes him unique among Democratic governors in the United States.
In the fall, Pennsylvania is once again expected to be pivotal to White House interests, and national attention will be focused on how the Shapiro administration handles the presidential election.
The state continues to be targeted after the state and its Republican allies sought to overturn Biden's 2020 victory there, and after President Trump declared “bad things” would happen in Philadelphia. ing.
Last month in Iowa, Trump told his supporters to “protect the vote” and to “go into” Detroit, Philadelphia and Atlanta and “watch the votes as they come in.”
As attorney general, Shapiro played a central role in defending Pennsylvania's 2020 election from Republican efforts to overturn it in court, but administration officials have been meeting for months. He said there was.
Shapiro told the AP that they are preparing legal, law enforcement and election administration “to conduct an election that everyone can trust, regardless of candidate choice.” “It's one of our most important responsibilities.”
Elections appear to be close.
Complicating matters is a state law that prohibits counties from processing mail-in ballots before Election Day, creating an opening for conspiracy theories and false claims inspired by President Trump in 2020. There are growing concerns that the count in Pennsylvania will drag on again.
Almost every other state allows mail-in ballots to be processed before Election Day. In Pennsylvania, Republican lawmakers are refusing to approve a bill without attaching other election-related changes that Democrats oppose.
Meanwhile, the Shapiro administration deftly responded to the collapse of a critical stretch of Interstate 95 in Philadelphia and the derailment of a tanker carrying toxic chemicals just over the Ohio-Pennsylvania border.
Still, getting deals on Capitol Hill hasn't always been Mr. Shapiro's strong suit.
Mr. Shapiro's budget deal with Republican lawmakers faced strong opposition from Democrats. Mr. Shapiro then withdrew it, angering Republicans and creating a stalemate over the spending, which is usually completed in June.
Lawmakers and Mr. Shapiro finalized the deal last month by significantly expanding funding for child care and subsidies for private schools.
But Shapiro's hands-off approach inside the Capitol drew frustration from both sides. Shapiro distinguishes such complaints from accusations of partisan food fights.
“I don't run Congress, right?” Mr. Shapiro told reporters at a news conference last month. “That means we're separate branches of this government. … Our Congress has to figure out how to go to work, and then we've got to figure out how to work together. It won’t.”
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He will enter 2024 as the only governor in the United States with a politically divided legislature after Democrats won the Virginia House of Representatives.
Still, it could be an advantage for Mr. Shapiro. House Democrats will block Republican bills that Mr. Shapiro could veto, while Senate Republicans will block Democratic bills that are too progressive for Mr. Shapiro's political instincts.
Shapiro rejects the suggestion.
“I'm kind of dealing with the cards that I've been dealt,” Shapiro told The Associated Press. “I'm just focused on finding areas where we can find common ground between the leadership of both the Senate and the House of Representatives, and seeing where we can find intersections where we can make recommendations.” I have done it. I can achieve it.”
