Five issues Pennsylvanians should pay attention to in 2025

From the ongoing fight to fully fund public education to the legalization of adult use cannabis, the Pennsylvania General Assembly will have their work cut out for them in 2025. Democrats will also have to work on protecting three Supreme Court justices who are up for retention election in the new year. 

With 2025 right around the corner, here are five issues Pennsylvania residents should pay attention to following the new year. 

Pennsylvania Supreme Court election

Three Democratic justices on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court are up for a retention vote next November after serving their 10-year terms. 

Justices Christine Donohue, David Wecht, and Kevin Dougherty helped Democrats flip the Pennsylvania Supreme Court after sweeping three open seats in 2015. Their terms are set to expire at the beginning of 2026, and they face a simple “yes” or “no” retention vote for another 10-year term.

According to The Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania, retention elections are a non-partisan, non-political method of reelecting judges while giving voters the opportunity to hold them accountable.  

More of the same from the Pennsylvania General Assembly?

Even though Democrats suffered defeats in key statewide races this past election, House Democrats and Senate Republicans are returning to Harrisburg in 2025 with their same majorities intact.

Democrats flipped the House for the first time in over a decade in the 2022 election and held onto their one-seat majority this past election, while Senate Republicans held onto their five-seat majority. 

The Pennsylvania Capital Star reported that this past legislative session was one of the least productive sessions since the 2009-2010 session, which was the last time when the House and Senate were split between Democrats and Republicans. 

The 2025-2026 legislative session is set to officially start on Jan. 7, and time will tell if the two chambers will work past their differences to legalize adult-use marijuana or raise the minimum wage.

Will adult-use marijuana finally be legalized in 2025?

Speaking of adult-use marijuana, there’s a lot of buzz in the air that 2025 may finally be the year the Pennsylvania General Assembly legalizes adult-use cannabis. 

Gov. Josh Shapiro told the Pittsburgh Tribune earlier this month that he plans on calling for its legalization during his budget address in February, calling it an issue of “fairness, justice and competitiveness.” 

“All the states around us have approved or are in the process of approving recreational marijuana. Folks are going across state borders in order to purchase it and paying taxes to those states. They should be keeping their money right here in Pennsylvania,” Shapiro said.  

Legislators in both chambers have begun introducing legalization and decriminalization bills. 

State Reps. Dan Frankel (D-Allegheny) and Rick Krajewski (D-Philadelphia) plan on introducing legislation that calls for adult-use cannabis to be sold in state stores and private dispensaries, reinvesting into communities harmed by the war on drugs, and limitations on THC levels. 

Fight for education funding continues

Democrats were able to secure a historic $1.1 billion increase in public education funding this past year, but the fight to close the education funding gap continues going into 2025. 

The Commonwealth Court ruled in 2023 that Pennsylvania has failed to meet its constitutional obligations to adequately fund public education across the state, and the legislature will need to close the $5.1 billion funding gap by 2029.

Education advocates praised Shapiro and the legislature for last year’s increase in funding, but noted that it was only the first step in a long process.

“This is not a one year crisis,” Dan Urevick-Ackelsberg, senior attorney with the Public Interest Law Center, said at a press conference in February. “The scope of the problem is too big. This budget is only step one. It will only get us part of the waiver. There is a step two, and three, and four, and five, and six, and seven.”

Who will step up to challenge Josh Shapiro?

This January marks the halfway point for Shapiro’s first term as governor and there is already speculation as to who will try to challenge him for reelection in 2026. 

Congressman Dan Meuser told the Philadelphia Inquirer earlier this month at the Pennsylvania Society in New York City that he is interested in running for governor in 2026. 

Other names to pay attention to include Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity and Senate Appropriations Chair Scott Martin (R-Lancaster).