** NEWS RELEASE**
EICHELBERGER AND BLOOM SOUND THE ALARM OVER PENNSYLVANIA’S LOOMING FISCAL ISSUES
Harrisburg, PA – Wednesday February 8, 2012 – State Senator John H. Eichelberger, Jr. (R-30) and State Representative Steve Bloom (R-199) held a press briefing on the many fiscal challenges that face Pennsylvania, not just in terms of the current budget, but for the foreseeable future as well.
The 2012-2013 budget proposed by Governor Corbett is an important step in the right direction, but serious challenges to the fiscal health of the Commonwealth remain. According to Eichelberger and Bloom, even if the economy improves in the near term, there are significant structural problems built into the state budget which will continue to impair Pennsylvania’s ability to live within its means. The structural problems which must be addressed to preserve Pennsylvania’s economic viability come in four major areas: public pension obligations; welfare spending; massive increases in borrowing; and an explosion in corrections.
“Growth in these four major spending areas is projected to far outpace the growth that is projected in revenues. An austere budget is an important step, but if we don’t take action now to enact significant reforms in these areas, the future financial picture for Pennsylvania’s government will remain bleak,” said Eichelberger. “We must change the retirement structure offered to public employees, we must eliminate artificial cost drivers such as prevailing wage, we must stop waste and abuse in a welfare system that has allowed the poverty rate to increase; and we must reform our penal system to reduce recidivism and costs.”
Both Senator Eichelberger and Representative Bloom urged their colleagues and the public to recognize these substantial structural deficiencies in Pennsylvania’s fiscal situation and to re-double the efforts to enact significant reforms that go beyond the Governor’s budget document.
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