CF Disappointed in Delay

Member Group : Commonwealth Foundation

HARRISBURG – The Commonwealth Foundation expressed disappointment that working families will have to continue to wait for pension reform and liquor store privatization.

"Until lawmakers address these important issues fully, Pennsylvania families will continue to pay for their inaction," said Matthew J. Brouillette, president and CEO of the Commonwealth Foundation. "Property taxes will rise to feed the $47 billion pension deficit, and government officials will still promote and sell liquor on taxpayers’ dime."

However, the Foundation remains optimistic given the progress made on these important issues and looks forward to working on these critical reforms in the upcoming months. Both the House and Senate advanced pension reform bills in June, and the Senate has shown they have support to pass liquor store privatization as the House did earlier this year.

"While the budget deadline has passed, both the fiscal crisis facing the state and public support for liquor privatization and pension reform ensures lawmakers can’t simply walk away from these issues," added Brouillette. "These critical reforms should be voted on based on their merits, not tied to other pieces of legislation."

Commenting on an email from the union for state liquor store managers urging state legislators to oppose transportation legislation to block a vote on liquor privatization, Brouillette noted, "Special interests delayed, but did not kill, reform."

The Commonwealth Foundation also applauds House Republicans for blocking, for now, an unaffordable and unsustainable expansion of Medicaid.

"The promise of ‘free money’ ignored the cost of higher federal taxes and additional costs to state government, assuming that the federal government will keep its promises," said Brouillette. "More importantly, Medicaid doesn’t offer quality health care for the poor and is unsustainable even without expansion. We need to fix a broken system first."

# # #
For more information, please contact John Bouder, Communications Officer at 717-671-1901 or [email protected].
The Commonwealth Foundation crafts free-market policies, convinces Pennsylvanians of their benefits, and counters attacks on liberty.

View Email in Browser