Wisconsin and Pennsylvania Reach Separate Budget Agreements

In Wisconsin, Gov. Tony Evers and Republican legislative leaders announced a bipartisan budget deal in May 2026 to spend down the state's budget surplus on tax relief and education funding. In Pennsylvania, top state leaders reached a separate budget agreement in July 2026 following closed-door negotiations among the Democratic-controlled House, Republican-led Senate, and Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, arriving more than a week after the state's budget deadline. The Wisconsin agreement required a special legislative session because the Legislature had already adjourned for the year; Evers signed Executive Order #292 to allow lawmakers to convene and take up the deal, which the budget committee moved forward quickly. Reported elements of the Wisconsin package include the largest increase to the state's special education reimbursement rate in state history, elimination of income tax on cash tips and overtime, and the return of more than $850 million of the budget surplus to residents, including direct payments of $600 per married couple or $300 per individual expected to reach about 3 million people by November. In Pennsylvania, specific details of the budget deal were not immediately available as lawmakers began reviewing the bills, with a final budget expected to reach Shapiro's desk by early the following week. The Wisconsin deal had cleared the procedural hurdle of the executive order and was moving through committee toward legislative approval as of the reporting date. The Pennsylvania agreement was still in the bill-review stage, with final passage and gubernatorial signature pending. Full contents of the Pennsylvania budget deal remain unconfirmed in available reporting, and no additional corroborating details on either state's legislative timeline beyond what is described here have been independently verified across multiple sources.