#54 The $50 Billion Budget That Outgrew PA

The Scale of Growth:

• Pennsylvania's population: grown only 10% in 50 years
• State government budget: increased over 40% in just 5 years
• Governor Shapiro's budget: crosses $50 billion mark for first time in history

The Challenge:

• Big budget numbers are hard for voters to understand
• Few people grasp the difference between millions and billions
• Need to make numbers relatable and memorable

Three Techniques to Persuade with Numbers:

1. Add a Translation Sentence

• Treat unfamiliar numbers like a foreign language
• Example: "The Shapiro budget is over $50 billion. To put that in perspective, that's a 40% increase in just five years."

2. Round and Make it Concrete

• People remember round numbers better
• Example: "This is the first time Pennsylvania's budget has crossed $50 billion."

3. Make it Human Scale

• Translate growth into something voters can feel
• Example: "Five years ago, the state spent about $3,000 per resident. Today, it's nearly $4,000. That's an extra $1,000 per person, without most families seeing any direct benefit."

Bonus: Turn Numbers into Stories

• Pick a single number and tell a memorable story
• Focus on the feeling you want to create
• Stories stick longer than spreadsheets

Bottom Line: Big numbers don't move people alone - round them, scale them to real life, and translate them into simple terms to help voters understand what's happening and why it matters.

For more tips on making budget numbers compelling, refer to the accompanying one-page PDF.

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