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00:06 - Welcome to PMA perspective, your weekly half hour news

00:09 - program on Pennsylvania business, government and politics.

00:12 - I'm your host, David Taylor,

00:14 - president and CEO of the Pennsylvania Manufacturers Association.

00:18 - On this week's program, we'll take you behind the scenes to the recording

00:21 - of Capitol Watch, a twice monthly feature on Lincoln Radio Journal.

00:26 - PMA perspective starts now.

00:29 - You're watching PMA perspective, a statewide source

00:33 - for business, government, and policy news.

00:45 - Newsmaker interviews

00:47 - with your host David and Taylor, and reports from the field

00:50 - with PMS Carl Moreira and Joy Johnson.

00:55 - Now for a special episode of PMA perspective.

00:59 - And welcome once again to Capitol Watch, where we keep an eye on what's happening

01:02 - over the Capitol Dome in Harrisburg for you.

01:04 - I'm your host, David Taylor, president and CEO of the Pennsylvania

01:08 - Manufacturers Association, with me today in the studio.

01:11 - My main man, Steve Blum, vice president of the Commonwealth Foundation.

01:15 - Steve, how are you doing?

01:16 - I'm doing well, and I'm glad to be here with you, David.

01:18 - It's great to be together.

01:19 - Our friend and other regular,

01:21 - Rebecca Oyler from the Pennsylvania motor Truck Association.

01:24 - Couldn't be with us today.

01:25 - So you and I will we'll, we'll do the heavy lift ourselves.

01:29 - The listeners who've been following the program, they've heard,

01:34 - you know, us talk about, since the governor's budget address,

01:38 - the ambulance certainly going up, going well?

01:41 - Well, before that, talking about the Commonwealth's fiscal condition,

01:45 - talking about the budgetary challenges that Harrisburg faces.

01:50 - And then, of course, the development this year with the governor wanting to,

01:54 - spend even more.

01:56 - And so, just for a baseline, Steve, let's let's go back last year's budget

02:01 - spent all of the reserves.

02:04 - There's there's nothing left in the reserves.

02:06 - Yes, there's the cupboards are bare.

02:08 - And that was to take state spending up to, about $50 billion a little bit over

02:14 - actual revenues that came in to the Commonwealth, about $46 billion.

02:20 - And so in February that Governor Shapiro called

02:24 - for spending in the new budget of $53 billion.

02:30 - We didn't increase the revenue, to the Commonwealth.

02:33 - And the governor put a couple of things in there that he says will bring in money.

02:37 - We can talk about that.

02:38 - But is it just me?

02:40 - Or when you're in a hole, you should stop digging?

02:43 - Well, if that's exactly the problem, it seems like the response

02:47 - of the administration has been keep digging.

02:51 - Right.

02:52 - And they've been almost brazen about it at times, suggesting more revenue

02:57 - from certain potential revenue sources this cycle than last cycle.

03:01 - For example, the legalized marijuana idea,

03:04 - one one that the governor has to enhance revenue,

03:08 - and there was no bill that was likely to pass last session

03:11 - to make selling marijuana legal in Pennsylvania for recreational purposes.

03:15 - Now, this year, they've decided that they can raise even more

03:18 - than they raised last year.

03:19 - And so they put a higher number with that revenue source.

03:21 - And they've documented various different revenue sources.

03:23 - And some of them were coming up goose eggs last, last cycle.

03:26 - And again, in real life, will that somehow in the in the budgetary math they won't.

03:31 - And because they're not there you have this important problem

03:35 - that we call it a structural deficit.

03:37 - Right, right.

03:38 - And the structural deficit means that the, the

03:41 - in simple terms, the spending is far outpacing the revenue.

03:45 - Right? So the increase in mandatory spending,

03:49 - on, on,

03:50 - on social programs and these are, these are promises that the Commonwealth

03:53 - has made, in particular to our senior citizens,

03:56 - that because Pennsylvania's population is older and that that cohort

04:00 - of older folks is growing, those are folks who, beyond their working years,

04:04 - people who are no longer earning income, paying taxes,

04:08 - people who themselves often require taxpayer funded services.

04:12 - At the same time, Pennsylvania doesn't have enough

04:15 - of the younger folks who are, you know, still building their careers

04:19 - in, in those, in that working period where they're paying taxes.

04:23 - And so we don't have enough income to pay for state government

04:27 - at its current scale.

04:29 - And so I would think that a responsible, responsible

04:34 - decision makers would be focused on, okay, where can we pare back?

04:39 - How can we get more,

04:42 - out of the dollars that are already being spent?

04:44 - And what can we do to encourage the economy to grow?

04:48 - It seems like those topics really haven't been at the, at the,

04:52 - the top of the conversation. Yeah.

04:54 - And that that one is very important.

04:56 - The whole demographics situation that our state faces,

04:59 - which feeds into the economic long term economic crisis, we have.

05:03 - And so when you when you ignore those things, they do come back to bite you.

05:08 - And so you can't you can't just move on and act like it's

05:10 - okay that the revenue didn't come in last year or this year,

05:13 - for example, Pennsylvania, our independent fiscal office, has obviously their job.

05:17 - And there's a nonprofit, nonpartisan, a state organization

05:21 - that's job is to understand, count the money,

05:24 - the revenues and all those sorts of things with all the most sophisticated tools.

05:28 - And they've determined that there's a budgetary,

05:32 - structural deficit in the neighborhood of $6 billion.

05:36 - That's got to be paid somehow.

05:37 - As you mentioned, the reserves are gone. Right.

05:39 - There are a few targets out there of other areas that there's money saved,

05:43 - but it's primarily in the area of our state's rainy day fund.

05:47 - Right.

05:47 - Which is the emergency fund.

05:48 - Emergency for economic disasters

05:50 - and those sorts of scenarios which we're not in yet, thankfully.

05:52 - Well, yeah.

05:53 - But the trajectory that we're on that

05:56 - if we would spend 53 billion

05:59 - when we only have maybe 47 billion

06:03 - coming in, and we take that out of the rainy day fund

06:07 - that not only have we we've done a couple of bad things at once.

06:11 - We've expanded the spending baseline, which of course,

06:15 - then is the amount that everybody else expects for the following year.

06:19 - So that makes the shortfall bigger.

06:22 - We have also depleted the emergency reserves.

06:27 - Which leaves the Commonwealth less secure in if

06:31 - if something bad really happens.

06:34 - And then beyond that, because we've taken the reserves down

06:38 - so low that the Commonwealth's bond rating would drop,

06:43 - which would then make borrowing more expensive,

06:45 - which would also increase obligations on the Commonwealth.

06:49 - It's like it's like

06:50 - like buying your groceries with a credit card,

06:52 - like you just like you're going to hit the wall.

06:54 - And interestingly,

06:56 - in the legislative chamber this week, the House of Representatives,

07:00 - which is controlled by a slim Democratic majority,

07:03 - enacted a new higher minimum wage,

07:06 - or they voted to enact it would have to now

07:08 - go over to the state Senate and ultimately to the governor for his signature.

07:12 - But just the idea that

07:14 - if you look at the revenue calculations, part of the increased revenue

07:18 - that that the governor is claiming in this budget proposal

07:21 - is that more money will come in to the state's coffers

07:24 - because the minimum wage has been raised, which therefore means

07:28 - that certain workers are earning a little bit more money,

07:31 - and that's going to generate enough tax revenue to actually approve the budget.

07:35 - So magically you can spend money essentially.

07:39 - Yeah.

07:39 - As if it's going to somehow lift us out of poverty.

07:42 - Right. But it's not going to work.

07:43 - I don't think so, because the conceit is that,

07:47 - everyone will get paid at the higher rate

07:51 - for failing to recognize that raising the the mandated wage rate

07:56 - doesn't give employers any more money to pay people with.

07:59 - And so as a result, you have, you know, workers in those entry level jobs,

08:05 - you have hiring is delayed, for sure.

08:07 - If not just like frozen.

08:09 - The hours for existing workers are reduced

08:13 - and probably some positions are eliminated.

08:16 - So yeah, the rate might go up, but it's not going to go in your pocket

08:20 - because your hours are going to get cut or your position is going to go away.

08:24 - And that's just the the absurdity of of some of the

08:28 - manners and concepts of how

08:31 - we can improve our financial situation,

08:34 - as enacted or at least or passed

08:37 - by a majority in the democratically controlled House in Pennsylvania.

08:40 - We have,

08:42 - a state Senate, which is got a,

08:45 - margin of, of majority for the, for the Republicans.

08:48 - And they've been standing firm against a lot of bad ideas over the last cycle,

08:53 - and they're going to be in a position to have to do that again because,

08:57 - the again, the Democratic House is, is illustrating, demonstrating

09:00 - that it's willing to do all sorts of things that aren't fiscally responsible

09:04 - and yet somehow claim to be improving our economic conditions.

09:07 - Yeah, this is not the right conversation to be having because it's

09:11 - I guess at a certain level, it's just dishonest.

09:13 - We had, state Senator Tracy Penicuik, address our monthly

09:17 - business briefing not long ago and she, she made mention of that.

09:20 - Let's listen to her now.

09:24 - Thank you, Senator, very much for being here.

09:26 - You've been a very strong voice for business, from your tenure,

09:30 - both your background in business and your background from the military.

09:33 - We're in a critical election year. What?

09:36 - What could potentially happen if

09:39 - if it is not a pro-business majority in the Senate?

09:42 - What do you see playing out?

09:45 - What are the risks associated?

09:46 - What should the business community be thinking about if that could happen?

09:51 - And how do you see things from from your perspective in your seat,

09:56 - playing out this year?

09:57 - And I would guess the third part to that is how can those in the business community

10:01 - support your efforts as you're going through this, through

10:04 - education, awareness and talking about the things

10:07 - that you've done for the business community?

10:08 - So I will tell you, the first thing

10:10 - that's going to hit your door is combined reporting.

10:13 - You are going to be combined reporting is going to be the first thing

10:16 - you're going to see corporate net income tax go right back up.

10:20 - You're going to see regulation upon regulation upon regulation.

10:24 - Because that

10:26 - Democrats are not pro-business, they're pro-government.

10:30 - They're pro tax.

10:31 - And, you know, you rich businesses.

10:34 - That's the attitude.

10:36 - They don't see the small business guy who's just trying to get his daughter

10:39 - in the ballet class

10:41 - and trying to keep all of his employees covered with their health care.

10:44 - They don't see that.

10:46 - But I think you're going to see so much regulatory oversight.

10:48 - It's going to be unbelievable.

10:50 - You they they absolutely want to have, combined reporting.

10:53 - They want to tax the crap out of you.

10:55 - You're all rich. You know, every business is rich.

10:57 - They don't take the time to get to know the businesses.

11:00 - And even in their own communities, they're not engaging with businesses.

11:04 - Hey, how hard is it to get electricians?

11:07 - Oh, how hard is it to get.

11:08 - Oh, we know how construction jobs, how many more construction workers do

11:12 - we need in the five years?

11:14 - They're not thinking like that because their minds don't think like that.

11:17 - And I think the the message to those businesses are keep talking

11:21 - to other businesses and saying, if we don't maintain the majority

11:25 - in the Senate, buckle up and move to Florida,

11:28 - because when he gets that trifecta, there's no telling what's coming.

11:34 - There was something else that

11:35 - happened recently that, that I wanted to mention

11:39 - in this context, Steve, which is that we, it was at the,

11:43 - Pennsylvania Press Club that's held in here in Harrisburg,

11:45 - and that the speaker was the the leader of the,

11:50 - hospital and health System Association of Pennsylvania happened.

11:54 - The leader was talking about,

11:56 - the the hurt that many of our,

12:00 - rural and smaller town hospitals are experiencing and, and,

12:05 - and talking about how that directly affects

12:09 - quality of life in that community

12:12 - if health care services aren't available, how that is a negative trend

12:19 - that then feeds on itself, where it becomes,

12:22 - more difficult for businesses to hire new people to come into that area

12:26 - because folks won't want to go because the services aren't available.

12:30 - And talking about this as an after effect

12:33 - of the communities that have, that have lost their factories and of course,

12:38 - you know, this this goes straight to me as an adequate advocate for manufacturing.

12:42 - It isn't just the money that's made by a manufacturing business.

12:46 - It's it's about, you know, wages and benefits

12:49 - and the quality of life for our employees because manufacturing adds

12:53 - the most value.

12:53 - We have the best wages and benefits for for our employees.

12:57 - And so you're talking about family sustaining jobs.

12:59 - You're also talking about our manufacturers

13:02 - being significant, local taxpayers

13:04 - upholding the local tax base and the quality of municipal services.

13:07 - This is why we have to fight for our manufacturing jobs,

13:11 - to maintain the quality of life in our communities because, you know,

13:15 - when when things, when things start going bad kind of feeds on itself.

13:21 - It was kind of sad to hear some of the stories

13:23 - that the president of Hap was discussing at the Press Club event.

13:27 - And, you know, you look at places that they're losing their

13:31 - their most qualified doctors, nurses, other medical specialists,

13:37 - because they are obviously in high economic demand

13:41 - and they can command good benefits and good salaries

13:44 - and pleasant working conditions if they wish to.

13:46 - And many of them do. They're looking for a for the place.

13:48 - So that's good for them in their family to live in

13:50 - and to practice medicine or whatever they're practicing,

13:53 - in their particular profession.

13:55 - And we're losing those people from rural Pennsylvania.

13:58 - And it's it's tearing apart the fabric of the community.

14:01 - If you, for example, that that she described the absence

14:05 - of prenatal care and actually birthing and.

14:08 - Yeah, and delivering babies so there aren't doctors there to do that.

14:12 - And they have to drive some 70 miles sometimes to get to the nearest doctor,

14:16 - right where there's where there's any obstetric services.

14:18 - So for mothers who are in labor and so this like and that's that, that's

14:21 - not just a thing that happens around pregnancy.

14:23 - That's just one example of of course, so are a lot of our areas are losing

14:26 - their specialists, their most qualified medical folk who love their community.

14:30 - But they have to do what's best for them and their families. Right.

14:32 - And if we're setting up a system

14:34 - that punishes them somehow for coming to Pennsylvania and they can

14:37 - do better economically in Ohio or North Carolina or Florida or Texas,

14:41 - like anyone else, they will go to where they can.

14:43 - They can make the biggest difference, but also they're seeking a quality life

14:46 - of their life.

14:46 - And I want to take this back a couple of steps

14:48 - back to the budget, because this to the listeners, this kind of sound

14:52 - like rambling, but but these are all very closely related.

14:55 - I would argue that one of the main problems that we have in

14:59 - Pennsylvania is that Harrisburg spends money faster

15:03 - than people can earn it, and this has been a problem that we have

15:07 - had here in the Commonwealth for years and years, decades and decades,

15:11 - governors and legislatures of both parties, that

15:14 - when government spends money faster

15:17 - than the private sector can create it, it suffocates growth.

15:21 - And this is why Pennsylvania, year

15:24 - after year, only ever grows.

15:28 - Our economy only ever grows at some fraction of the national average.

15:33 - And you know, Steve, just as you were saying,

15:35 - people go where the opportunities are.

15:39 - If the opportunities are more plentiful and more promising

15:44 - somewhere else, that's where people go.

15:46 - You see that happening right now with with Florida, with the major changes

15:50 - that have been made there.

15:51 - The economy is booming and that that's that's where people go.

15:56 - And it's not just the weather.

15:57 - People are leaving California, people are leaving Hawaii.

16:00 - The weather's really nice there too.

16:02 - But it's about the, the, the, the decision to get made at the level of state

16:07 - government on how are we going to be stewards of the taxpayers dollars,

16:12 - what are we going to do to build a pro-growth environment

16:16 - where private sector investment will choose to come?

16:20 - Because all of these decisions are voluntary.

16:22 - And so, again,

16:23 - the chronic overspending causes a structural problem with slower growth,

16:27 - which then leads to, you know, fewer folks staying and more people leaving.

16:32 - And that is what drives our demographic crisis,

16:35 - which has now left us where we are with the structural deficit

16:40 - because of more older folks beyond their working years

16:44 - and too few younger folks, to carry the freight.

16:48 - You're listening to Capitol Watch.

16:50 - I'm your host, David Taylor from Pennsylvania Manufacturers with me,

16:53 - Steve Blum from Commonwealth Foundation.

16:56 - And so if we we just to sort of take a step back and think about all this,

17:00 - it comes down to specifics, things that aren't that exciting to talk about.

17:05 - Right?

17:06 - It it comes down to recognizing that we have an outflow of,

17:10 - of people from Pennsylvania that has been driven

17:14 - by a demographic cycle that many, many generations now.

17:18 - Yeah, of Pennsylvania politicians and leaders have kind of ignored,

17:22 - every ten years when the decennial census is completed and the new

17:25 - congressional districts are drawn every time we lose one in our lifetimes,

17:30 - every time we've been losing a new A representative.

17:33 - And so some other state just got more political clout and we got less,

17:36 - which means the piece of the federal government

17:40 - pie that that our citizens are relying on is getting smaller.

17:43 - Yeah, we become less relevant to the larger national conversation.

17:47 - We've we've got to wake up to that.

17:49 - And it's been documented

17:50 - and there's been all sorts of surveys done and polling done.

17:53 - People really do

17:53 - meet move away because of taxes or move to a place with lower taxes.

17:58 - They appreciate that they and they appreciate places

18:00 - where laws and regulations are reasonable and not onerous.

18:04 - We've seen this brain drain here in Pennsylvania.

18:07 - Now, as I said, for at least a half a century, right.

18:09 - Probably more than that. I don't I don't know how far it goes back, but.

18:12 - Well, at least the Second World War and since the 1950s, probably 6 or 7 cycles.

18:17 - Right.

18:18 - And it's almost as if we're ignoring it.

18:20 - Yeah.

18:21 - And so and this is why you would want to accentuate the positive.

18:25 - Everybody would like to believe that things are okay.

18:27 - I wish I could say honestly that they are okay.

18:30 - There are plenty of positive opportunities.

18:32 - Pennsylvania retains some really significant strengths

18:36 - when it comes to,

18:38 - you know, our geography, our access to market, our amazing natural

18:43 - resources, our infrastructure, our institutions of finance

18:46 - and our institutions of higher learning,

18:48 - like all of those things are really amazing.

18:51 - But because we have not had a leadership class that has made,

18:58 - you know, a pro-growth pro production agenda

19:02 - the top priority, they're more concerned about taking than making that.

19:06 - This is how by degrees we have we have fallen behind.

19:10 - And again, this is what makes me I don't know what the other word is like.

19:14 - It makes me angry when you see the governor putting forward a budget

19:19 - that is going to burn

19:21 - through the rainy day fund, so that our emergency funds are depleted,

19:25 - that it's going to tank our bond rating and it's going to set us up for,

19:30 - you know, really significant tax increases on everybody.

19:34 - It's not just going to fall on, you know, high earners or business or whoever,

19:38 - like, this is this is where we have to tax everybody's spending level.

19:42 - We're talking about with the with the structural deficit

19:44 - we have is going to mean within a very short time, within several, several

19:50 - legislative cycles, drastic increases in spending, which is going to force

19:57 - families to pay, ultimately much higher taxes to fill that gap.

20:01 - And we're talking about, for an average family of four,

20:03 - something on the order of 2020, $100 per year, per family of four year from now,

20:09 - because of the decisions that are about to be implemented by this budget.

20:12 - If, in fact, the legislature doesn't kind of wake up and engage in the battle

20:18 - on behalf of the folks they represent, you know, I mean, and Governor Shapiro

20:22 - has his well oiled, taxpayer funded PR machine, and he's kind of a pied

20:26 - piper that everybody, you know, thinks well of him, and he gets stuff done.

20:31 - So he says,

20:33 - but that reputation, that

20:36 - aura does not track with the, the, the facts on the ground.

20:41 - And again, I just even though it, it will probably not be,

20:45 - terribly popular or, or sexy.

20:49 - Holding the line on fiscal responsibility is what is called for at this moment.

20:55 - And, and I hope, enough of our leaders will will hold

21:00 - the line and, and stand up for that and make the case and say,

21:04 - no, we can't have it all right here, right now.

21:08 - Like, we have to set priorities, and we also have to,

21:11 - we also have to find savings.

21:14 - And part of that, I think, should be cooperating with the federal government

21:18 - so that we can compare our records with the records in other states.

21:21 - I think that that would reveal a lot about wastage and people

21:25 - taking benefits in multiple states and those kinds of things,

21:28 - like the only way that we're going to hammer down

21:30 - on that kind of fraud is if we cooperate with the federal government.

21:34 - Yeah.

21:34 - And that's key information to to any, any taxpayer is going to want to think

21:39 - or know that their tax dollars are going to people who need it.

21:42 - Yes, exactly.

21:43 - Because most, most folks are not against having programs

21:46 - that are available to, to protect the human resources in our state.

21:49 - And that's that's something people generally considered part

21:52 - of the social safety net and a legitimate thing to fight for.

21:55 - Yeah, but if it's all set up in riddled with, with with fraud and overspending

22:00 - and, and a lack of oversight, people are not in favor of that.

22:04 - They don't want to see their dollars wasted.

22:06 - I mean, Stephen, you're exactly right about that.

22:08 - That issue of fraud.

22:10 - People want their tax dollars to go to, to the people who are deserving,

22:15 - the people who qualify for those programs to get what they need.

22:18 - And in fact, during our monthly business briefing, State Senator Tracy Penicuik

22:22 - touched on that point. Let's listen to her now.

22:27 - I think I'd

22:27 - like to start with the the point that you lead with

22:31 - about effective governance and not wasting money.

22:37 - You know, especially when it comes to, to education,

22:39 - if we were getting better educational outcomes

22:43 - every year for spending more every year, that'd be that'd be fine by me.

22:47 - I agree, but we're spending more and more when we, you know,

22:52 - we get unfortunately too often really mediocre results.

22:56 - And I guess the question that I want to pose is to get your thoughts on

23:01 - the unwillingness, in fact,

23:04 - the open hostility of the Shapiro administration

23:08 - to sharing Pennsylvania data with the federal authorities

23:12 - so that our data can be compared

23:15 - with data from other states.

23:18 - For the purpose of identifying welfare fraud, health care fraud, and other things

23:23 - that otherwise we in the Commonwealth wouldn't be able to see in.

23:29 - I actually think

23:31 - that his reluctance to share that data is because he knows it's there.

23:34 - He's embarrassed.

23:35 - He doesn't want to be running for president holding that banner of,

23:39 - oh my God, look at all this fraud.

23:41 - And we know there's fraud.

23:43 - We knew there were 330,000 individuals

23:47 - post Covid on Medicaid.

23:49 - They were not caring for a child under 18.

23:53 - They were not caring

23:54 - for an elderly parent, and they were not personally handicapped.

23:58 - They were sitting in their parents basement playing video games,

24:01 - collecting Medicaid.

24:03 - And if you need Medicaid, I want you to have everything you need

24:06 - under the Medicaid program.

24:08 - But if you're able to work, get your butt out and go to work.

24:11 - That's absurd.

24:13 - That's part of the issue.

24:14 - And another part of the issue is,

24:18 - he talks

24:18 - about taking care of workers, but we've not given these,

24:22 - in-home health care workers a raise in 20 years,

24:26 - and they're caring for vulnerable children and vulnerable individuals.

24:30 - It's just no self-awareness on what people are going through right now.

24:35 - And I think that's the really that's probably the biggest takeaway

24:40 - is, is Pennsylvania government is completely clueless.

24:45 - And if you give people the skills to fish, they'll take care of themselves.

24:51 - If you give them the fish, they just want more fish.

24:54 - And I don't I just don't agree with that.

24:57 - I think we've got to give kids an opportunity to get a good education,

25:02 - be able to read when they come out of high school

25:05 - so their degrees worth something.

25:07 - And if they want to go to college, great.

25:09 - If you want to go to the trades, great.

25:10 - If you want to go into the military, great.

25:12 - Whatever you want to do.

25:13 - But you've got to contribute to your own success.

25:16 - You can't let the government to find your success.

25:19 - Thank you so much, Senator, because that attitude,

25:20 - I think, is really important that it's that it's it's better for people.

25:25 - It's better for individuals, for them to have the dignity of work

25:29 - and the and the self-sufficiency that comes from that, the sense of self.

25:33 - And, you know, like you said, just the longer that you're, you know,

25:37 - that somebody is just on the sofa, like to the extent that they have skills,

25:41 - the longer they're outside the workforce, those skills degrade,

25:44 - the longer they're outside the workforce.

25:45 - Their professional references that they might have that they, that they,

25:49 - that they date out.

25:51 - And so like, it's it's bad for the person it is.

25:54 - And you know, it's really amazing.

25:56 - We just had World Down Syndrome Day.

25:58 - And I got a really nice email from a constituent

26:01 - who said, you know, our son is doing great.

26:04 - He works full time.

26:08 - He works full time.

26:09 - Full time.

26:10 - So that young man is is creating his own future.

26:14 - And then others because they're lazy and they're sitting on

26:17 - mom and dad's sofa, get a job.

26:21 - Well, again,

26:23 - so much more to say, but we're out of time.

26:26 - Steve, where can people go to learn more about you and your organization

26:30 - and the work that you do?

26:31 - They can visit Commonwealth foundation.org on the internet.

26:34 - Outstanding as ever.

26:35 - You can find me online at PA manufacturers.org and from Steve and me.

26:40 - Thanks to all of you for listening.

26:41 - We will catch you next time on Capitol.

26:43 - Watch.

26:47 - Well, that's all the time we have for this week's program.

26:49 - PMA perspective returns next week, and until then, stay current on what's

26:53 - happening in your state government by visiting p-a manufacturers.org.

26:58 - From all of us at PMA.

26:59 - Thanks so much for watching and we'll see you next week.

27:24 - At the

27:24 - Pennsylvania Manufacturers Association, we're working every day to make our

27:28 - Commonwealth a place where businesses can grow, innovate and thrive.

27:32 - We represent the 560,000 hardworking Pennsylvanians on our shop floors.

27:38 - The backbone of Pennsylvania's economy.

27:41 - And we fight for the policies that help them compete.

27:44 - Tax relief that encourages investment.

27:48 - Regulatory reform that cuts red tape.

27:51 - Legal reforms to curb frivolous lawsuits.

27:54 - Workforce development to prepare the next generation workforce

27:58 - and unleashing our abundant domestic energy resources to keep energy

28:02 - affordable, power our businesses, and promote national security

28:07 - through advocacy, media, and partnerships.

28:10 - PMA gives manufacturers a voice,

28:13 - whether it's here in Harrisburg or on our statewide television program.

28:17 - PMA perspective because when manufacturers

28:20 - succeed, Pennsylvania's communities succeed.

28:23 - The Pennsylvania Manufacturers Association

28:26 - because business in Pennsylvania is our business.

28:36 - This program has been paid

28:37 - for by the sponsor and does not reflect the views of PCN.