Shapiro Hasn't Gotten 'Stuff' Done—Except For Himself

Spoiler alert: Gov. Josh Shapiro wants to be president.

His 2025 looks more like a band’s tour than the governor of a state with a stagnant population, lackluster economy, and frighteningly bad student test scores. Among his stops: New Orleans, Los Angeles, Boston, Nantucket, Morgantown, WV, New Jersey – almost enough times to take up residency – ditto for New York City and countless stops across Virginia. Plus, a few visits to Washington, D.C. Then a bonus visit to Quebec. 

One would imagine that the part of his stump speeches involving what’s he’s accomplished as governor would be briefer than his “walk-up” song.

Since 1996, Shapiro has been getting paid by taxpayers. He has been a congressional staffer, state representative, county commissioner, attorney General, and now governor. It’s a nice resume, but the reality is that his “box checking” credentials are a bit like seeing Europe in 10 days. Sure, you get to see London, Paris, Madrid, Lisbon, Berlin, and Vienna in that time span. But did you really get anything out of it?

Yet if Shapiro has his way in 2028 – achieving his life’s ambition – he’ll get elected to his next taxpayer-funded job: President.

His greatest accomplishment: getting elected to the next taxpayer-funded job.

His second greatest accomplishment: convincing everyone else to talk about him as a presidential candidate. It started even before he was sworn-in as governor. He hadn’t even served half his gubernatorial term when he had journalists breathlessly profile his potential presidential campaign. In 2024, he used his orchestrated interview to be Kamala Harris’s running-mate as a national audition for 2028. Then, the national legacy media campaign began.

Yet sadly, no one asks an obvious question – perhaps politically unimportant: What has he accomplished as governor to merit being elected president?

Shapiro has no signature legislative accomplishment. His constitutionally-required duty of enacting a budget has been late every year. This year, Pennsylvania was the last state to have a budget enacted. His 2024 budget wasn’t completed until December.

He’s signed fewer bills into law than any modern-era governor. He’ll probably attempt to take credit for increasing taxpayer-funding for public education. The reality is that a Pennsylvania judge ordered the governor and legislature to fix the disparity among’s the students in the state’s 500 school districts. Should Shapiro get “credit” for choosing the most expensive and least student-focused way to comply with a judge?

As for being bold, he falls short – and contradicts himself.

When it comes to school choice, he’s had three positions: for, against, and I’ll sign next time you get it to me. After campaigning for school choice, a school choice scholarship program was included in the first budget presented to him. But he vetoed the scholarship program.

Ditto for using Pennsylvania’s almost unlimited natural gas as an energy source and job creator. He was for it, then against it, and now sort of both. As a candidate for governor, while serving as attorney general, Shapiro tried to have it both ways when his Democratic predecessor, Tom Wolf, unilaterally entered Pennsylvania into RGGI – a multi-state compact that taxed and discouraged natural gas. Wolf’s unilateral action was challenged in court. Shapiro (wearing two hats – candidate and attorney General) said he was “troubled” by Wolf’s action – and would revisit it if he became governor. Yet he defended Wolf’s actions in court.

But as governor, when judges declared Wolf’s actions illegal, Shapiro filed an appeal in the Supreme Court to defend Wolf’s actions.

However, Shapiro just agreed as part of 2025 budget negotiations to withdraw from RGGI. But he has his own version of RGGI that he wants enacted. (His natural gas position is like following a pickleball.)

And when it comes to state budgets, each one has been late and spent more money than the Commonwealth takes in. He’s been living off past savings. This year, he wanted a budget that would have spent almost $5 billion above revenues. He had to settle for spending about $3.5 billion above revenues.

He’s setting up Pennsylvanians for a precarious future of either raising taxes or cutting programs.

In fairness, Shapiro’s would-be 2028 Democrat opponents don’t have any successes, either. California Gov. Gavin Newsom is the state’s first governor to ever preside over a shrinking population, and countless homes are still in rubble years after the devastating fires. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has presided over a falling population and has let Chicago become the “OK Corral.” Pete Buttigieg – when he wasn’t away from his job – was widely viewed as an inept transportation secretary. And then there’s Kamala Harris.

What does this all say about the modern Democrat Party? Is it really about rhetoric, feelings, and hating President Trump? That accomplishments just don’t matter? Perhaps that’s why Shapiro fits in.

Guy Ciarrocchi writes for RealClear Pennsylvania and Broad+Liberty. You can also follow his daily commentary @PaSuburbsGuy