After a failed attempt during the prior session to privatize Pennsylvania’s state wine and liquor stores, Governor Corbett has unveiled his own plan to move government out of the booze business. Pennsylvania is one of only two remaining states to maintain a government monopoly over wholesale and retail sales of both wine and spirits. The Governor’s plan will transform this prohibition-era system into one of greater consumer choice and convenience while also providing a critical investment opportunity for public education.
Category Archives: Pennsylvania Politics
Rejecting Medicaid Expansion the Right Call
I would like to commend the 38 state house members that presented a unified voice in opposition to the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion provision.
Even without this expansion, Medicaid costs are unsustainable. Over the last decade, program spending increased more than 80 percent, nearly twice as much as personal income. Medicaid now consumes 30 percent of Pennsylvania’s total state operating budget and is projected to grow for years to come. Continue reading
House GOP Proposes Pro-Growth and Zero Cost Right-to-Work Legislation
During the past legislative session, Governor Corbett and Republican lawmakers repudiated the tax and spend policies of the previous administration which in turn, chartered a new course towards fiscal responsibility. Expanding upon the successes of the last two years, a group of State House members have introduced legislation to end the commonwealth’s compulsory unionism. Right-to-work labor reform is critical to giving workers choice as to whether or not they wish to join a union while providing a much needed boost for the state’s economy.
197th General Assembly Takes Oath of Office
As mandated by the Pennsylvania Constitution, lawmakers took their oath of office on the first Tuesday in January which fell on New Years Day 2013. In addition to the swearing in of 32 new members to the House and Senate, each chamber passed their operating rules and elected their presiding officers.
Reps. Aument and Cutler: PA Can’t Afford Washington’s Bad Medicine
Pennsylvania faces a number of critical issues that Gov. Tom Corbett and the newly elected General Assembly will soon be required to confront. Perhaps the most consequential to job creators and taxpayers is implementation of several mandates contained within the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as ObamaCare.
The U.S. Supreme Court on June 28 ruled that the federal government may not withhold Medicaid funds from the states if they do not create health insurance exchanges as required by ObamaCare. This means states may now decide whether or not they want to participate in this federal scheme without losing money that helped pay the medical bills for the most vulnerable. Another major issue our state must confront is the decision of whether or not to implement the law’s massive expansion of Medicaid. We believe Pennsylvania should stand with our job creators, patients and taxpayers, and reject both.
