Jonathan Williams Discusses Pennsylvania’s Competitiveness on PMA Perspective
Jonathan Williams Discusses Pennsylvania’s Competitiveness on PMA Perspective
On Sunday night, Vice President for the Center for State Fiscal Reform, Jonathan Williams, joined Carl Marrara of the Pennsylvania Manufacturers Association on PMA Perspective to discuss Pennsylvania’s recent decline in economic competitiveness. According to this year’s edition of Rich States, Poor States, Pennsylvania ranked 41st in economic outlook.
Some of the reasons for Pennsylvania’s drop in the rankings include an excessive overall tax burden, high business taxes and because Pennsylvania is not a right-to-work state. Even though Pennsylvania has lagged behind other states in recent years, Jonathan argues that there are significant steps legislators can take to improve Pennsylvania’s economy and turn things around. The state could improve its outlook significantly by reducing corporate taxes, establishing pension reform that moves the state to a modern defined-contribution system and passing right-to-work, as many Midwest states recently have.