Harrisburg, PA – Earlier this month, Governor Josh Shapiro and First Lady Lori Shapiro joined Kylie Kelce for an episode of her YouTube show FAFO, a Wave Original Series presented by Not Gonna Lie with Kylie Kelce.
Before showing Kelce a few favorite spots in the Capitol, Governor and First Lady Shapiro spoke with her about how the Shapiro Administration is getting new mothers the mental healthcare they deserve, protecting our intellectual disability and autism community, and delivering for Pennsylvania's women and girls.
As a long-time advocate for reducing the stigma surrounding postpartum health, a central focus of Kelce’s conversation covered the Shapiro Administration’s commitment to prioritizing maternal health care, including post-partum and perinatal depression:
“When I had kids, nobody ever said, ‘How are you feeling? What do you need? Are you okay? How's it going?’ And it's just a total fog when you have a new baby,” said First Lady Shapiro. “And I think what I hear from women now is when they're asked these questions, it's an opportunity to stop and check in with themselves and say, ‘Wait, how am I feeling?’ And I think that's amazing. So we've come really far, but there's so much more work to do.”
“I mean, now in Pennsylvania, women, after they give birth, they have access to, you know, folks coming in asking these questions, giving them information on where to get help after they leave, connecting them directly with help if they find that they need it at that time,” said Governor Shapiro. “I'm really proud of that, and again, we listened to folks — we understood that this was affecting one in eight women in Pennsylvania, and we went out and did something about it.”
Since taking office, Governor Shapiro has secured $12.3 million in funding for maternal and child health initiatives, including the first-ever line item investment at $2.3 million, to address maternal mortality. Last month, the Shapiro Administration also announced Pennsylvania’s first-ever, multi-agency Maternal Health Strategic Action Plan, outlining strategic goals, data and research, ongoing work, and recommendations to combat high rates of maternal mortality, especially among Black women, and to alleviate barriers that pregnant women in Pennsylvania experience when seeking the prenatal and postpartum care they — and their children — need to live healthier lives.
Kelce highlighted the Governor and First Lady’s work to address menstrual equity:
“I went to visit a whole bunch of nonprofits, with some women from our Women's Commission, that were helping provide period supplies to people who couldn't afford them, and I realized throughout this process of listening to people, that we didn't have period supplies in our schools,” said First Lady Shapiro. “But this is a basic hygiene supply and we don't ask people to bring their own toilet paper, paper towels, or soap to the bathroom, so why are we not making sure that in every restroom there are these basic hygiene supplies that women need?”
“And we have put millions of dollars in our state budget for pads and tampons in schools and state parks and colleges and universities,” said Governor Shapiro.
Their conversation later turned to the Shapiro Administration’s progress in expanding and strengthening the protections and rights of Pennsylvanians with disabilities — from securing a historic $354.8 million in state and federal funding for adult ID/A services in the FY 2024-25 budget, to supporting 76,000 Pennsylvanians with disabilities through the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation.
“I think our Office of Vocational Rehabilitation does amazing work supporting job seekers and the employers that hire them… So it's really important to me to get out there and help these individuals show their unique talents — and they are amazing employees,” said First Lady Shapiro. “So when one person [like the CEOs of Wawa and Sheetz] stands up and says, ‘Oh, I'm going to do this, or this is good for business, this makes sense,’ it just paves the way for others. And there's a domino effect.”
While showing Kelce around the Capitol, Governor Shapiro discussed his work to strengthen K-12 education and care for every one of Pennsylvania’s children:
“Look, I think, if you go talk to parents who are working, they're stressed — rightfully so — that they don't have a safe and warm and loving place to have their kids when they're out pursuing their careers,” said Governor Shapiro. “And so, we knew we needed to change that, and that we could change it in a number of different ways.”
From day one, Governor Shapiro has been committed to making child care more affordable and ensuring every kid, regardless of their ZIP code, has access to a quality education. In the FY 2025-26 budget alone, the Governor secured $25 million for a new Child Care Staff Retention and Recruitment Program for Child Care Works facilities, while continuing to fund the Child Care Works Program, securing $421.3 million to allow 75,000 low-income families to remain enrolled in subsidized childcare.
The Shapiro Administration has also made historic investments in Pennsylvania’s public schools, increasing the Commonwealth’s total state investment in K–12 education to nearly $12 billion for the first time in Pennsylvania history. These investments have made serving more than 200 million free breakfasts in schools, delivering over $1.52 billion in funding for special education, and securing $300 million in funding to help make student-based mental health services available to students possible.
Their interview also provided a look into how parenting has impacted Governor and First Lady’s approach to delivering for Pennsylvanians:
“I was a member of the State House, and I'd work here all day, and then I'd rush home at night to see if I could get there for bedtime and bathtime, and having that connection to the kids was a reminder every day of why I do this work. Every day,” said Governor Shapiro. “So whether it was helping fund their schools or child care, or, you know, health care — whatever it was, I always sort of drew from the lessons I was learning from our kids, and then applied that to help other people's kids.”
In their conversation with Kylie Kelce, the Shapiros spoke candidly to share how government can still deliver for everyday people and to highlight their pride in Pennsylvania.
Watch their full conversation here.