Pennsylvania Distress Soon America's
Problem
Listen to the economic news for the past few days and Americans would be
forgiven if they rejoiced that the economy actually created more jobs than the
increase in population demanded for the first time in six and a half
years.
To get a real snapshot of America's economic situation, just travel to one
of the "big" states, Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania has the sixth largest population
among the states. The school districts and local governments number more than
4900. Every inch of the commonwealth must be incorporated by state law,
preventing dissolution. There's the problem.
On the downside of things, Pennsylvania has 800 municipalities that have
less than 1,000 residents. The state is one of ten that doe not allow
municipalities the right to dissolve. As a result those townships are turning
completely dependent upon subsidies from the state. (Other states that have this
law are Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey,
North Carolina, Rhode Island and Vermont.)
Still, services are failing in the smaller communities because state
coffers simply can't handle the influx of dying cities needing assistance.
"The commonwealth of Pennsylvania created all these municipalities so the
buck comes back to the commonwealth if their citizens are not able to receive
services adequately," stated State Representative Chris Ross (R). "We need to
have a viable alternative."
Ross' alternative was to would allow dissolution and limit the
municipalities' stay on the state's financial aid program for distressed
political subdivisions. Thirteen of the shrinking townships have been stuck for
over a decade.
One of the major problems--not discussed--is EPA regulations. The
regulations hampering the use of coal have decimated the region's top
industries--mining and steel production, strangling the economic future of these
towns and dividing the residents in the communities. Fragmentation of resolve at
the local level makes it harder to turn things around according to Matt Fabian
from the Municipal Market Advisors firm in Massachusetts.
But nowhere at the state or local levels has anyone looked into the role
the federal government has played in aiding and abetting the death of these
townships. Without that calculation being tossed into the mix, those trying to
"shake the municipalities out of their zombie-like state" are not going to get
anywhere.
These people lived for generations off the bounty found under their feet
(coal and iron reserves). The jobs and the income generated allowed Pennsylvania
to become a national leader despite the dirty gray cloud that encompassed
Pittsburgh. While the noon-day sun couldn't even cast a decent shadow through
the smog, the city and the state prospered.
Now the living standard of the state and citizens has declined to the point
the state faces the unpleasant choice of unincorporating vast swaths of former
municipality holdings and having to spend more sums by appointing administrators
to operate these new districts.
This plan too has problems. Existing school districts would, in many cases,
disappear along with the township designation meaning those children would have
to be allocated to remaining districts. But those districts are already facing
budget cuts because the main source of their revenues--property values from the
coal and iron mines and the steel-making plants--are now worthless. They are
reluctant to take on new expenses.
Pennsylvania is just the unlucky spot where the recession has hit in
conjunction with flawed federal mandates. But those mandates are eroding any
chance of continuous recovery across the country, no matter how the citizens
work or the local laws govern. Pennsylvania has a problem that will be endemic
to the entire United States.
That option to consolidate a surviving township with a failed one is not
going to happen willingly. Even though merging would allow for better services
"people don't want to give up their territory or have someone else coming in to
run the community," noted former steel producer Farrell's Mayor Olive
McKeithan.
There are no easy answers because the right questions have not been
asked. The heart of the matter is the federal government, running amok in the
form of devastating EPA regulations bureaucrats unable to see end result of
their economic-wrecking agenda, is the culprit.
Pure air and water are admirable goals. But how does the government rebuild
living standards and livelihoods it has destroyed? No one thought to ask those
questions 50 years ago and no one thought to ask even when an entire state is in
shambles.
The "blame man first" agenda is going to continue wrecking the U.S. economy
until that government structure faces dissolution
"I have sworn on the altar of God eternal hostility
to every form of tyranny over the mind of man."--Thomas
Jefferson
No comments:
Post a Comment