Gov. Josh Shapiro views his 2025 budget proposal as necessary to keep Pennsylvania “on the rise.”

“Each of the last two years both Democrats and Republicans have voted for commonsense budgets that solve real problems,” Shapiro said from the House speaker’s podium before a joint session of the Legislature on Tuesday. “We’ve moved the ball down the field and put points on the board – and we should celebrate that. But we should be hungry for more.”

The budget is certainly hungry for more – $3.6 billion more, to be exact. But is the state actually rising? That’s debatable.

Part of the problem for the governor is that he essentially governs two states – the rural Pennsylvania that is struggling to redefine itself and the state’s urban areas. One can argue the state’s urban areas are rising. It’s hard to argue the same for a rural area like ours, which is taking on projects like Warren Worx precisely because Warren County isn’t rising. The Warren County School District had to take the drastic step of closing two high schools precisely because Warren County isn’t rising even as the state pours more money into education – with a bigger investment in schools proposed as part of Shapiro’s budget. Services for mental health and addiction are merging because we are struggling to pay for them.

There are legitimate policy questions as part of this budget that lawmakers have to deal with, including marijuana legalization, school funding, taxing and regulating skill games and paying for health care for an increasingly aging population. But perhaps the biggest question to ask is how spending more money than the state has ever spent before helps rural areas join in the state’s rise.

It’s been said a high tide raises all boats. Our boat is taking on water – and the governor’s latest policy address doesn’t explain how spending more than the state takes in will plug the hole in our leaky boat.