$2500 Tax Credit For Teachers, Cops, Nurses Proposed By Gov. Shapiro

HARRISBURG, PA — Perhaps never in modern history has there been such a dearth of essential workers in Pennsylvania and around the nation. Now, lawmakers are pushing a series of initiatives they hope will sway more people to vital public service occupations that keep the engine of society running.

Three years of up to $2,500 a year in tax incentives would be offered to newly certified teachers, nurses, and police officers under a new proposal pushed by Gov. Josh Shapiro.

"We are facing a real shortage of nurses, teachers, and cops — and I hear it everywhere I go," Shapiro said Friday. "If you want to support your community, we've got your back."

RELATED: With PA Teacher Shortage Crisis At Tipping Point, State Takes Action

The incentive will be a part of Shapiro's forthcoming budget proposal, which will be publicly announced during his budget address on March 7.

It comes amid a teacher shortage that was already listing toward crisis before the pandemic, and shortages in healthcare and law enforcement that were made critical by the impacts of COVID-19.

Pennsylvania is now facing a 65 percent annual decline in new educators joining the workforce. According to lawmakers who plan to introduce a bill to address the issue, in 2010, Pennsylvania had about 20,000 new teachers certified each year.

By 2022, that number was down to 7,000 per year.

“Fixing the longer-term educator pipeline is going to take a sustained, multiyear commitment to address barriers,” Rich Askey, the president of the state's largest teacher's union, the Pennsylvania State Education Association, said in a statement. “And the most significant of those are the cost of becoming a teacher and the salaries we pay.”

Askey called for a $60,000 minimum teacher salary, and $20 an hour minimum wage for education support professionals like bus drivers and cafeteria workers.

On Tuesday morning, the PA Senate State Education Committee held a special hearing on the shortages. And State Rep. Patty Kim (D-Dauphin) announced Monday that a package of legislation which she is co-sponsoring, long in the wings, would be introduced in the near future.

The governor's office added that the budget will feature a 50 percent increase in funding for the Manufacturing PA Innovation Program and a 25 percent increase in fudning for STEM programs through the Pennsylvania’s PA Smart Program.