Frankel applauds governor’s 2024-25 state budget proposal
Rep. Dan B. Frankel February 6, 2024 | 2:27 PM
HARRISBURG, Feb. 6 – State Rep. Dan Frankel, D-Allegheny, hailed the budget outlined today by Gov. Josh Shapiro as “a framework that Pennsylvanians can be excited about.”
“This budget aligns with the commonwealth that I know – compassionate, innovative, and ambitious,” Frankel said.
Frankel singled out proposals for a long-overdue increase in the minimum wage, investments in public transit and education, and decriminalization of cannabis as absolute necessities for the future of Pennsylvania.
“These are currently areas of weakness for Pennsylvania, but this proposal shows that we have the resources to catch up with and surpass our peer states,” Frankel said.
The budget proposal also takes up an idea approved by the PA House Health Committee, on which Frankel serves as majority chair, to free Pennsylvanians from medical debt by ensuring hospitals connect them to charity programs and by using state funds to purchase existing medical debt for pennies on the dollar – debt that is trapping many Pennsylvanians.
“It’s a policy that will potentially free thousands of Pennsylvanians to move forward with their lives, contribute to the economy, and resume medical treatment that they need,” Frankel said. “I can’t overstate how life changing this modest program would be for many families.”
House Bill 78, introduced by state Rep. Arvind Venkat, passed the full House last summer.
Frankel also cheered Shapiro’s call for the Pennsylvania Senate to take up several crucial bills that the House passed last year, including the Fairness Act to finally outlaw discrimination against LGBTQ+ Pennsylvanians, and a bill to close loopholes that allow the purchase of long guns, including AR-15 firearms, without a background check.
“More than 8 out of 10 Pennsylvanians want these reasonable bills done, so let’s just do the right thing and get them to Governor Shapiro’s desk,” Frankel said.
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