General speaking, what do you think is the single most important problem/issue facing Pennsylvania today?
1. Not enough businessmen in the legislature who would limit the state to essential services and would not have allowed gambling because of the huge social costs. Gambling takes money from those that can least afford the losses. It provides money for the state to extend its "social safety net" to the new group of people that gambling makes less independent. This is a disgusting immoral calculated public policy tha may make me leave the state.
2. out of control medical & legal costs & system.
3. real estate taxes
4. Too many incompetent legislators--too entrenched aloof, and arrogant. The govenor throws grants around like he prints the money. Too much flash and not enough substance. Reduce the legislature and start from there.
5. Gambling to fund education
6. High taxes
7. Family values and religious protection of non minority (Muslim, etc.) faiths, and the taxing financial burden our tax system puts on families (and small business).
8. Tax reform to spread out/smooth tax burden and education costs between affluent suburbs and struggling inner cities.
9. Tax Structure
10. Getting rid of the Governor of Philadelphia, Edward G. Rendell.
11. In southwestern PA the most important thing right now is jobs. Jobs that pay more than minimum wage.
12. Astronomical Health Care Costs
13. Gov. Rendell
14. SELF-CENTERED ELECTED OFFICALS
15. Property taxes
16. 2900 seperate taxing bodies. Too many municipal governmnets
17. Too large of Government - Taxes too high!
18. Health Insurance
19. good paying factory jobs in western pa.
20. 1. Worker's Compensation rates and the system are weighted against the employer. Rates are through the roof as opposed to the vast majority of states and all similiarly situated states. Same applies to the unemployment compensation system allows frivolous claims to be made and then compounds it with unreasonable rules.
21. Rendel
22. Complacency of all govt. employees
23. Lack of conservative leadership in State Government.
24. Taxes, and leadership for the people
25. NO REAL JOBS FOR A FAMILY TO MAKE A DECENT LIVING AND THAT EFFECTS ALL BUSINESSES.
26. Availability and Price of Energy. Natural Gas should not be used for generating electricity, except for small peaking units that operate for less than 3 hours a day on hot afternoons or cold nights. Gas should be reserved for heating homes, businesses, and for feed stock for petro-chemical plants. Coal, uranium, hydro should be used for generating electricity.
27. BIG GOVERNMENT
28. A poor climate for business has been created, it needs to be turned around.
29. Job creation and retention
30. employment
31. Local and State Leadership
32. cost of health care
33. over taxation
34. Positive Business Climate including tax reduction, investment encouragement, people training, and W/c rate reductions. Population retention.
35. Gambling and property taxes. Gambling money won't fix anything!
36. Health Insurance
37. Property Taxe
38. Taxes, fees, costs, mandates, and all expenses Pennsylvanians have to pay because of out-of-control spending by our government. The Pennsylvnia government is too large and costs too much to maintain. Tighten the welfare system in the state, decrease the size of our government, limit the amount a local government can force a business to spend, and get rid of any legislator that doesn't have the guts to vote against tax increases.
39. An excess of government, largely promoted by the greed, is destroying our economy and our society. This is a pattern that has been repeated many times throughout history (Roman Empire through the Soviet Union). We are showing no ability to avoid repeating the pattern.
40. Taxes. We must allow the citizens to vote on all tax increases. Government spending at all levels, including school boards, has gotten out of hands. It has tro be reined in and reduced - not just the rate of increase, but a real reduction in spending.
41. Health Insurance/Health Care
42. Repeal Wage increase for legislators
43. Roads/infrastructure
44. Quality jobs
45. Rendell
46. Health Insurance costs for small Businesses.
47. The out of control taxes on everything...
48. Government regulations
49. Cost of doing business (health care, workers comp. liability insurance and taxes)
50. Income taxes and property taxes.
51. Taxes that have been imposed under the Rendel administration.
52. Health Care Costs
53. Taxes, whe have too many and pay too much. The Gov needs to learn to live within it's means as we must!!!!
54. Taxes
55. Health Insurance and Government Regulations
56. Growth of state government & regulations
57. Aging Population and populace dependence on big business and government. Need to make things easy for small business to flourish
58. Employment base
59. The fact there are no checks on any branch of state government.
60. Our existing infrastructure. Highways, bridges etc. We have paved too much.
61. Unemployment
62. More interested in personal adgenda than the good of the public
63. I've been in this business for 30 years. Now I face the loss of my house, no way to help my children with college, and can not afford health insurance. Business has been getting tighter every year sinse NAFTA. Good jobs are impossable to find today. I've been looking for over 2 years now. I will be leaving Pa. as soon as my kids are done with high school.
64. A decision to reduce the size of government, government spending, and government regulations.
65. Economic growth, creating an enviroment for business to grow and reducing the size of government.
66. governor
67. health, property, and worker's comp insurance welfare programs out of control
68. Tax reform, gov't reform
69. Act 511 Taxes on employers and employees
70. Increased Fuel Cost ( This is going to inflate everything and possibly cause a recession )
71. INSURANCE AND BUSINESS TAXES
72. health care - property taxes
73. The inability to create an environment to attract new and maintain existing businesses.
74. We need to change the constitution to include term limits on both the federal and state level. The seniority system breeds corruption and self service on the part of the elected officials, rather than public service. Even the good guys get forced into doing the wrong thing or they will loose their appointments and leadership positions.
75. LACK OF CONSERVATIVE LEADERSHIP IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
76. enviroment non-conducive to business growth
77. Property tax reform.
78. Health Insurance Reform - so many people can't afford to have it and the cost for small business is out of hand.
79. PA is not a business friendly state. The cost of the PA government is not proportional to other states. The PA school system - does need to have any more monies thrown at it - teachers just need to teach like they did in the 1st half of the 1900's. PA test scores are low compared to cost per student comparing other states and countries.
80. Taxes and Health Care and Jobs
81. Taxes, from the federal right down to the local levels.
82. JOBS
83. We need Right to Work Legislation - We need to stop protectionism & Pay to Play and realise that we need to compete
84. Healthcare insurance
85. Health Insurance Rates
86. Lack of Positive leadership that wants to serve instead of looking out for their own pockets and self interests
87. Small Business Health Insurance Premiums and Business Taxes.
88. CORPORATE TAXES
89. Property taxes
90. We are being being taxed out of our homes and businesses
91. The most important is Health Care, it is becoming unaffordable to offer healthcare to employees, making it harder to get and retain good help, and keep the employees you have healthy. When they can't afford care, the end up taking off more time costing us money also. They is also an urgent shortage of workers in Franklin County and I believe this is a more immediate need.
92. PROPERTY TAXES - SALES TAXES - MEDICAL INSURANCE - EDUCATION
93. Health Care Crisis
94. Property taxes - specifically school taxes. These taxes put an unfair burden on homeowner's and small businesses which own their own buildings. If education continues to be funded by property taxes, the school boards should have to do so by referendum of the constituents in the district. It should not be decided by the handfull of people who sit on the board, even though they ar elected officials.
95. Too much regulation
96. need to have tort reform, limit lawsuits. health Insurance is out of hand. education is also out of hand . the cost to educate a student is rediculous for what you get!!
97. Lack of Productivity and Economic Growth with an eye toward Industrial or Agriculural Incentives to promote commerce.
98. WORKER'S COMP... IT'S OUT OF CONTROL
99. State leadership out of touch with the realities of the global marketplace. Those people still think this country is back in the 1960's, when we owned production and the standard of living on this planet. Government became bloated and used to revenue sources from industries they thought would never move ( i.e. steel ). They never anticipated that these industries would simply go out of business or downsize by closing outdated and inefficient plants, leaving many people with no jobs( and localities and the state with reduced revenues). These people had to move out of PA in order to find work. Their kids were born and/or grew up outside of PA. Is it any wonder this state's average population is so high? Not to mention the reputation the state has for a militant labor force. Even with steel mostly gone, all you have to do is look at the statistics on teachers strikes in this country to see the majority of them occur in PA, with most of those in Western PA. What does this say about the left-over entitlement mentality of labor? None of these hard facts ever seem to be addressed by local or state leaders, who continue to bury their heads in the sand, or think that gambling revenues will solve money problems. Small, back-woods nobility thinking !!!!!!!
100. Non-competitive business climate
101. Gov Rendell is out of touch with the people of PA
102. Taxes both realestate and other. This is not the most business friendly state. Lower taxes will increase revenue for government and help businesses create jobs. Let's face it the consumer is not helped either with increases because they pay them in the end. Keep government out of the mix. We do not need an increase in the minimum wage either. Please government needs to get out of the way.
103. loss of manufacturing due to "free trade" and high taxes ane medical insurance
104. Taxes!!!!!
105. Out of control Real Estate taxes
106. Fiscal irresponsibility
107. The party's need to do what is best for the state & country not what seems to be best for the party.
108. Insurance
109. The prevailing wage rates should be recinded so more work could done in the State.
110. Lack of leadership
111. The same concerns that are affecting the rest of the country. Lack of concern with global warming and manufacturing that ignored new technology that could have created growth as well as environmental stewardship, such as solar energy and energy efficient cars/trucks. Reliance on foreign sources of energy and a war due to one man's agenda.
112. Property Taxes
113. Controlling government spending and reducing taxes
114. HEALTH INSURANCE AFFORDABILITY
115. Size & extent of governmental regulation
116. HEALTH CARE AND HIGH AND GETTING MUCH HIGHER UTILITY BILLS
117. health care
118. lack of good fiscally responsible businesses; not those just interested in making shareholders happy
119. Education / Job Training
120. Taxes
121. Death Tax
122. Gov. Rendell
123. Affordable Healthcare for Everyone.
124. the fact that our legislators are out of touch with general population they vote as they see fit not as the people want, and the choices at election time are no better, we need a vote for "none of the above"
125. Jobs
126. Lack of imagination in the legislative and executive branch dealing with our demographic/population/taxation issues with regard to business and industry.
127. health care
128. healthcare
129. PA has a horrific business climate as the result of the corrupt political environment in PA.
130. a joke of a legislature in Harrisburg
131. Taxes are too high due to excess spending
132. Ed Rendell
133. Arrogant insolated legislatures and too many of them. Get rid of the slush fund and gifts to home areas.
134. Liability issues
135. Loss of manufacturing jobs ... working people can pay taxes and people who work in facotories can make a higher wage which equates to higher taxes paid ... why doesn't our state understand "Business 101?????" What pop singer's song went "nothin' from nothin' leaves nothin', you gotta have something" .......
136. We need Fair taxation via a non corrupt government
137. The state is being run amaturishly. The leaders of state and local have to work to unite communities and to get business rolling - and those with prospects of higher paying jobs. For the past 50 years Phila. has been run by a single party - one that can't realize how deep a hole they are digging. Also, the cities have what is now a skeletal infrastructure that the suburbs cannot recreate without more taxes, etc.
138. The unfavorable business climate is very serious. Worker's compensation rates, high taxes, skyrocketing medical insurance premiums, along with many other issues are straining our efforts to stay competitive.
139. Health Insurance
140. Closed shop state. Union control of the state legislature. The dictatorship by the leaders of the Senate and House of Representatives. The negative business climate in Pa. I WISH IT WAS AS SIMPLE AS A SINGLE IMPORTANT PROBLEM!
141. Business taxes; structure of unemployment insurance; structure of worker's comp insurance and the way the two systems are run. Very inefficient.
142. The Bush Administration's incompetence, recklessness and utter contempt for the will and best interest of the people who elected them is the biggest threat to our state and country.
143. From a small business perspective, low unemployment, lack of educated workers. From a personal perspective, taxes
144. Property Taxes funding schools AND Municipalties. The ONLY way property taxes should be used for any funding would be a YEARLY reassessment, which is cost prohibitive. Consumption/Usage taxes are the fairest. School taxes should be partly shared and partly user based (parents pay more than the childless)
145. Lower Health Care Insurance Costs
146. Too many unfunded mandates from the state.
147. Property Taxes
148. upcomino casinos
149. the economy
150. Poor business climate that hinders the state's ability to attract new businesses and create more jobs. We're losing our young enducated people to others states that create more jobs.
