Shapiro’s Silent Partners

Originally published in the Delaware Valley Journal.

There’s plenty to criticize about Gov. Josh Shapiro’s budget address, as many have done. Yet, one of the strangest aspects of the governor’s speech is not what he said but rather what—or whom—he didn’t talk about. Though not referenced explicitly, government unions greatly influenced the governor’s recent budget address.

The word “union” appears just once in Shapiro’s prepared remarks, but only when mentioning “Union County,” the location for a new—ironically, non-union—pasta-manufacturing facility. Aside from one historical footnote about Pennsylvania’s role in the labor movement during the Industrial Revolution, unions were alive and kicking between the lines of Shapiro’s proposal.

Public sector unions stand behind every special interest group that benefits from Shapiro’s nearly $51.5 billion budget. Teachers, firefighters, police, corrections officers, state workers, transit workers, social workers, childcare workers, and home healthcare workers received substantial attention during the address.

Read more at the Delaware Valley Journal.