Pennsylvania budget office to change leadership as 2026-27 budget season nears

Ford Turner, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Dec 5, 2025

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HARRISBURG, Pa. — The state Office of the Budget will have a new leader going into the 2026-27 budget season after Gov. Josh Shapiro announced Budget Secretary Uri Monson will step down next week to become executive director of the Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System.

Shapiro said he will appoint a deputy secretary, Zachary Reber, to fill the post after Monson's anticipated final day of work on Dec. 12.

The change in leadership will come about a month after the end of a grueling 135-day budget impasse in which billions of dollars of state payments were held up because the politically divided Legislature and the Shapiro administration could not come up with a 2025-26 spending plan.

Monson has been the point man during Shapiro's three years as governor in presenting financial details of proposed budgets to the Legislature and the public. Because of the lengthy impasse, there will be far less time between the recent conclusion of the current year's budget and the start of public conversation about the next one. That is expected to occur with Shapiro's early February budget address.

In a news release, Shapiro credited Monson with playing a key role in securing the past three budgets. He praised Monson's "exceptional financial leadership and integrity."

During his time leading the Office of the Budget, Monson put in place policies that helped the state earn its highest bond rating in more than a decade, Shapiro said. Bond refinancings carried out under Monson will save $193 million over the coming decade, according to Shapiro, and during his tenure the state released its first-ever debt management policy.

PSERS is one of the oldest pension plans in the U.S., having been established in 1917. It has a staff of 350 and is the 21st largest state-sponsored public pension fund in the nation, based on total plan assets.

Its previous executive director, Terrill Sanchez, retired earlier this year. The agency is being led on an interim basis by Ben Cotton. Monson's appointment to head PSERS is expected to be finalized by its board at a Dec. 12 meeting.

Reber currently works in the Office of the Budget as deputy secretary for fiscal policy and program coordination. In that role, he manages coordination between the governor's office and the budget office and has an important role in shaping budgets.

Previously, he worked as special adviser to budget secretaries. Among other positions he has held, he led the Keystone Economic Development and Workforce Command Center and was deputy secretary of policy and planning in the governor's office.

"Zach has been a key leader in the Budget Office for years — he understands the Commonwealth's fiscal landscape inside and out," Shapiro said.

Shapiro said the state's taxpayers "are fortunate to have dedicated public servants like Uri and Zach carefully managing the Commonwealth's budgetary and fiscal health."