Rep. Charity Grimm Krupa, who represents the 51st Legislative District in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, responded to Governor Josh Shapiro’s budget address with criticism of the proposed $53.26 billion spending plan.
Krupa stated, “As Pennsylvania approaches America’s 250th anniversary, we would do well to remember who we are and what was entrusted to us.
“This Commonwealth is the Keystone State, the place where a nation was born on the belief that government must live within its means, respect the rule of law, and answer to the people who pay the bills.
“Gov. Josh Shapiro’s $53.26 billion budget proposal abandons that inheritance.
“The governor calls this a plan. In truth, it is a gamble at best – one that increases spending by more than $2.7 billion in a single year while resting on revenues that do not exist, have not been authorized, or may be unlawful, including taxes on skill games and recreational marijuana.
“This is fantasy budgeting with very real consequences for taxpayers.
“Our founders did not pledge their lives, fortunes and sacred honor so future generations could fund government on speculation and political convenience. They warned against debt, excess and the quiet erosion of liberty that follows fiscal recklessness.
“Yet under this proposal, Pennsylvania’s hard-won financial defenses are dismantled.
“When Gov. Shapiro took office, the Commonwealth held more than $13 billion in surplus and Rainy Day reserves, a shield against recession, crisis and uncertainty. If this budget were enacted as written, the surplus would be erased entirely and the Rainy Day Fund cut by more than half by the end of the 2026–27 budget cycle.
“Once the surplus is gone, working families are the ones left holding the bill.
“The Rainy Day Fund was never meant to finance ambition or mask structural imbalance. It exists for storms, not for fair-weather excess. To drain it now, as federal aid disappears and economic warning signs mount, is not bold leadership. It is a violation of trust.
“Equally troubling is the governor’s reliance on recreational marijuana as a fiscal crutch. States that have followed this path have learned a hard lesson: The promised revenues are quickly consumed by higher emergency room visits, impaired driving, workplace accidents, and increased strain on law enforcement and social services. The social costs are real, enduring and borne not by politicians but by families and communities.
“Pennsylvanians were not promised a government that grows without restraint and sends the bill to the next generation. They were promised a republic governed by prudence accountability and respect for those who earn a living by the sweat of their brow.
“This proposal is only the opening salvo. As a member of the House Appropriations Committee I will meet it with the same spirit that built this Commonwealth: by being skeptical of power faithful to law and resolved to protect people’s purse.“As America marks 250 years of independence Pennsylvania must once again be keystone not weak link.”
Krupa serves areas in Fayette County including Uniontown as well as several townships and boroughs according to her official biography. She holds degrees from Penn State University and West Virginia College of Law and has experience as an assistant public defender in Fayette County, later working as an attorney specializing in civil rights litigation according to her official website. Krupa also served on Gallatin School Board and maintains lifetime membership in National Rifle Association. She advocates for parental rights in education along with support for law enforcement and constitutional freedoms.
