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Sunday, March 02, 2003 Page: 3B
I AM WRITING TO YOU TO SHARE SOME IMPORTANT NEWS ABOUT PENNSYLVANIA’S
BUSINESS CLIMATE AND THE QUALITY OF LIVING FOR THE CITIZENS OF OUR
COMMONWEALTH. I AM PRESIDENT OF THE PENNSYLVANIA MANUFACTURERS’ ASSOCIATION, A
STATEWIDE TRADE GROUP FOUNDED IN 1909 TO REPRESENT THE INTERESTS OF THE
MANUFACTURING SECTOR. WHEN CONSIDERING THE ISSUES AFFECTING PENNSYLVANIA, IT
IS CRITICAL FOR OUR LEADERS TO FOCUS ON THE BASELINE STATISTICS THAT INDICATE
THE STATE’S ECONOMIC HEALTH. TO THAT END, PMA HAS PREPARED A REPORT ON
PENNSYLVANIA’S BUSINESS CLIMATE ENTITLED “THE SILENT KILLER.” IN BRIEF, THE
SILENT KILLER MEANS: OVERSPENDING BY STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS HAS STUCK
PENNSYLVANIA WITH HIGH TAXES THAT CAUSE ECONOMIC STAGNATION, RESULTING IN
FEWER JOBS AND LOWER WAGES. BECAUSE OF SLOW GROWTH IN JOBS AND WAGES,
PENNSYLVANIANS IN THEIR 20S AND 30S LEAVE TO BUILD CAREERS AND LIVES
ELSEWHERE. PENNSYLVANIA’S POPULATION OF ROUGHLY 12 MILLION HAS NOT GROWN IN 30
YEARS, AND, AS THAT POPULATION HAS AGED IN PLACE, WE NOW HAVE THE HIGHEST
PROPORTION OF SENIOR CITIZENS OF ANY STATE EXCEPT FLORIDA. AS OLDER
PENNSYLVANIANS LEAVE THE WORK FORCE AND BECOME MORE DEPENDENT ON
TAXPAYER-FUNDED SERVICES INCLUDING HEALTH CARE, THERE ARE FEWER AND FEWER
PENNSYLVANIANS IN THEIR PRODUCTIVE YEARS PAYING MORE AND MORE IN TAXES. THE
ONGOING LOSS OF YOUNG PEOPLE THAT ERODES THE TAX BASE, SHRINKS THE WORK FORCE,
AND DIMINISHES PENNSYLVANIA’S FUTURE WILL CONTINUE – UNLESS OUR STATE AND
LOCAL ELECTED OFFICIALS END THE CYCLE OF OVERSPENDING AND OVERTAXING BY
SLAMMING THE BRAKES ON THE ESCALATING COST OF GOVERNMENT. IN THE COURSE OF
YOUR RESEARCH AND REPORTING, I HOPE YOU WILL TAKE THE TIME TO REVIEW THIS
REPORT AND REFLECT ON THE SILENT KILLER PHENOMENON AND THE FACTORS THAT
CONTRIBUTE TO IT. Jim Panyard, President
PMA
Harrisburg