{"id":145344,"date":"2026-03-22T15:34:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T15:34:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/145344\/"},"modified":"2026-03-22T15:34:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T15:34:07","slug":"how-to-turn-pennsylvanias-economy-around","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/145344\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Turn Pennsylvania’s Economy Around"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sadly, one of the nation\u2019s biggest employers is closing in Pennsylvania. Saks & Company recently\u00a0announced<\/a>\u00a0plans to shut down its fulfillment center in Foster, laying off 435 employees as an unfortunate aftermath. This follows on other recent closures and layoffs by Saks in\u00a0Bala Cynwyd<\/a>\u00a0and Wilkes-Barre<\/a>, which also resulted in the loss of another 200 jobs.<\/p>\n

Business closures like this are a gut punch to our commonwealth, but they are also indicative of the tough financial times Pennsylvanians currently face.<\/p>\n

And though it is easy to point fingers at national and international trends, many of Pennsylvania\u2019s economic woes are of its own making. Our commonwealth has what it needs to compete and attract businesses: a skilled workforce, abundant natural resources, geographic proximity to huge markets, etc.<\/p>\n

Yet, Pennsylvania struggles to compete nationally. In its annual\u00a0Rich States, Poor States, the American Legislative Exchange Council\u00a0ranks<\/a>\u00a0Pennsylvania 36th in economic outlook and 44th in economic performance. The Tax Foundation\u00a0ranks<\/a>\u00a0our commonwealth 36th nationally for tax competitiveness, dropping down two spots from last year\u2019s rankings.<\/p>\n

These adverse economic conditions have driven far too many Pennsylvanians to leave their home state. From 2012 to 2022, Pennsylvania\u00a0lost<\/a>\u00a0more than 180,000 residents to state-to-state migration, taking $16.5 billion in personal income with them. Our commonwealth\u00a0ranks<\/a>\u00a0sixth in the nation for the number of people lost to outmigration and seventh for lost personal income.<\/p>\n

Pennsylvanians leaving for Florida, the Carolinas, and Texas are not just chasing warmer weather. Polling\u00a0reveals<\/a> that 55% of Pennsylvanians are leaving or considering leaving to find a lower cost of living.<\/p>\n

So, how do we reverse course?<\/p>\n

It all begins with the state budget. Every year, Pennsylvania lawmakers legislate not only how tax dollars are spent but also the policies and programs that guide the spending. And with the right reforms, Pennsylvania can start climbing back to being the economic powerhouse it once was.<\/p>\n

Regulatory reform would be a great place to start. Our commonwealth has a terrible reputation for excessive red tape that discourages and is a barrier to business. Pennsylvania is the\u00a014th-most regulated state<\/a>, with more than 164,000 regulations on the books!<\/p>\n

And even the slightest reduction in this regulatory burden would pay huge dividends. A Commonwealth Foundation study\u00a0found<\/a>\u00a0that a 36% reduction in Pennsylvania regulations would generate more than $9.2 billion in new GDP spending and more than 180,000 jobs.<\/p>\n

One way to chip away at Pennsylvania\u2019s regulatory burden is the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act. The REINS Act would require legislative approval for any major new and costly regulation before it takes effect. States that have embraced similar commonsense reforms have seen real economic dividends.\u00a0Florida<\/a>, which passed the REINS Act in 2010, has become one of the leading states for domestic migration, economic growth, and job creation.<\/p>\n

We made notable progress during last year\u2019s budget when lawmakers adopted \u201cdeemed-approved\u201d permitting. Now, if a state agency fails to meet a deadline for permit approval, the permit is automatically approved, allowing business owners to break ground on their new projects faster.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We also must not legislate away our competitive advantage in energy production. Lawmakers in Harrisburg are considering counterproductive policies, such as the governor\u2019s \u201cLightning Plan,\u201d that threaten our commonwealth\u2019s status as an energy powerhouse. If adopted, the Lightning Plan\u2014a series of onerous carbon taxes and renewable energy mandates\u2014would impose more than $150 billion in new energy costs<\/a>\u00a0over the next decade, jacking up utility prices on families and businesses already paying out the nose when their electricity bills come due.<\/p>\n

Accelerating tax reform would also alleviate rising costs. Pennsylvania levies one of the highest corporate taxes nationally. In 2022, lawmakers passed a plan to reduce the corporate net income tax (CNIT) from 9.99% to 4.99% by 2031.<\/p>\n

But this reduction needs to be fast-tracked. Even with today\u2019s lower rate (7.49%), Pennsylvania still taxes at a higher rate than our neighbors<\/a>\u00a0in New York, West Virginia, Virginia, and Ohio. (In fact, the Buckeye State has no corporate taxes.) Accelerating the CNIT reduction would put us ahead of our neighbors, making Pennsylvania an ideal place to start a business or relocate.<\/p>\n

Tax reform also requires the fiscal discipline needed to avoid\u00a0new\u00a0taxes. Pennsylvania\u2019s Independent Fiscal Office has made a scary projection of a\u00a0$6 billion state deficit<\/a>\u00a0by fiscal year 2026\u201327, which would fully exhaust our general fund and emergency reserves the following year. This fiscal crisis will result in a statewide tax hike of $2,100 per family of four. Given that half of Americans cannot afford\u00a0a $1,000 emergency expense<\/a>, this is a profound blow to the wallets of Pennsylvanians.<\/p>\n

Business closures like Saks should serve as a wake-up call. Without genuine regulatory reforms or tax relief, Pennsylvania risks losing more jobs, businesses, and families to other states.<\/p>\n

Adopting a fiscally responsible budget\u2014complete with meaningful regulatory reform and tax relief\u2014would sharpen and broaden the commonwealth\u2019s competitive edge, invite more businesses, foster economic growth, and stop the hemorrhage of outmigration to other states.<\/p>\n

This article was originally published by RealClearPennsylvania and made available via RealClearWire<\/a>.<\/p>\n

We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sadly, one of the nation\u2019s biggest employers is closing in Pennsylvania. Saks & Company recently\u00a0announced\u00a0plans to shut down…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":145345,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[66328,61,28,30,29,2261,5800],"class_list":["post-145344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-economic-freedom","tag-economy","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news","tag-tax","tag-taxes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145344"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145344\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}