Four Things to Look for During Gov. Shapiro's Budget Address

I have been through many budget addresses as Governor Wolf's former communications director.

It's a chaotic day for elected officials and staffers - from communications staffers who have to execute the day's communications plan to legislative and policy staffers who work with outside groups and legislators to explain the details of the budget.

1. What is the headline?

   Governors usually want to land one headline when they give a budget address. In past budget addresses, Governor Shapiro has focused on bipartisanship and education, making significant investments in our school and emphasizing the bipartisan coalition he must build to get stuff done. Headed into an election year with a looming deficit, the Governor will likely take a similar bridge-building tact with a heavy focus on accomplishments.

   
   

2. What's on the cutting room floor?

   Plenty gets left on the cutting room floor in any speech, whether it is a policy that makes it into the budget but not the speech or policy and initiatives that fail to land in either. Advocacy groups that get left out of the budget address must redouble their efforts as budget hearings start. They must turn their efforts to legislators and build coalitions to get their ideas, funding, and programs into the final product.

   
   

3. Who is there?

   You can usually tell the governor's focus and priorities by who he invites to attend and who he plans to acknowledge in the speech. This year, Governor Shapiro provided an advance list of Pennsylvanians who will be in attendance at his invitation, along with their stories. You can read a lot about who he invited and their stories. The people and policies mentioned here will be the meat of his address and focus over the next few months.

   
   

4. What's next?

   After the budget address, the Governor will likely head out to sell his budget address. Please pay close attention to the topics he discusses and the locations he visits. The policies will likely be his key priorities in the final product, and the locations indicate which legislators they believe are essential to a final budget. One caveat: with Governor Wolf, we faced a different legislative makeup with Republicans controlling both chambers. We knew that to reach a budget resolution, Republicans needed wins, and sometimes those wins gave the Governor losses. In some years, we highlighted programs and policies with events and media to elevate them and allow Republicans to take them away so other initiatives could survive.

Conclusion

Fitler Square Strategies has experience navigating the budget and post-budget process and securing policy and funding wins for clients. If your organization wants help raising the profile of an issue or securing a legislative win, reach out to see how our advocacy and public relations services can help you succeed.