Post by ck4829 on Jan 2, 2017 12:07:54 GMT
Pa.'s poor rating: Inaction's consequences
Harrisburg's failure to address long-known systemic problems only worsens those problems — and has earned Pennsylvania an abysmal ranking for how its government operates.
Pennsylvania places 42nd in the website 24/7 Wall Street's latest annual list of how well each of the 50 states are run. The rankings “measure economic indicators, social factors, fiscal health, and financial responsibility,” according to the Commonwealth Foundation — areas where the Keystone State fares poorly, in these rankings and in conducting the public's business.
Having one of the highest tax burdens in the country has much to do with Pennsylvania's 5.8 percent October unemployment rate, up a full percentage point from October 2015. The state also draws criticism for having the second lowest budgetary-reserve figure among the 50 states: “Pennsylvania's rainy day fund could finance the state's operations for just about three days,” 24/7 Wall Street says.
And Pennsylvania “has just 59.6 percent of the assets it needs to fund its future pension obligations, the fifth least of any state,” the website says. “Yet earlier this year, legislation to reform pension plans failed,” Commonwealth notes.
Neither Pennsylvania's ranking nor the problems that earned it will improve much unless Harrisburg acts. As Commonwealth says, “good policy solves problems rather than kicking them down the road.” But sadly, as a new year dawns, Pennsylvanians are still waiting for better state governance to kick in.
triblive.com/opinion/editorials/11676611-74/pennsylvania-state-problems
Harrisburg's failure to address long-known systemic problems only worsens those problems — and has earned Pennsylvania an abysmal ranking for how its government operates.
Pennsylvania places 42nd in the website 24/7 Wall Street's latest annual list of how well each of the 50 states are run. The rankings “measure economic indicators, social factors, fiscal health, and financial responsibility,” according to the Commonwealth Foundation — areas where the Keystone State fares poorly, in these rankings and in conducting the public's business.
Having one of the highest tax burdens in the country has much to do with Pennsylvania's 5.8 percent October unemployment rate, up a full percentage point from October 2015. The state also draws criticism for having the second lowest budgetary-reserve figure among the 50 states: “Pennsylvania's rainy day fund could finance the state's operations for just about three days,” 24/7 Wall Street says.
And Pennsylvania “has just 59.6 percent of the assets it needs to fund its future pension obligations, the fifth least of any state,” the website says. “Yet earlier this year, legislation to reform pension plans failed,” Commonwealth notes.
Neither Pennsylvania's ranking nor the problems that earned it will improve much unless Harrisburg acts. As Commonwealth says, “good policy solves problems rather than kicking them down the road.” But sadly, as a new year dawns, Pennsylvanians are still waiting for better state governance to kick in.
triblive.com/opinion/editorials/11676611-74/pennsylvania-state-problems