At the State Level

IssuesPA v. 2.0: Highlighting Issues Important to the Citizens of the Commonwealth
Aiding Workforce Development Efforts
Analyzing the State’s Economic Stimulus Package
Participating in the Project on Medical Liability

IssuesPA v. 2.0:
Highlighting Issues Important to the Citizens of the Commonwealth – IssuesPA continues to provide all Pennsylvanians with an integrated, easily accessible base of nonpartisan and unbiased information, insight, and analysis on key issues affecting the state’s economic competitiveness. The goal is to help produce a better understanding of the complex issues facing the Commonwealth and form a basis for informed debate on some of the critical issues shaping the future of our state; such as, Pennsylvania’s indifferent economic performance, continuing need for serious education reform, decline of older urban areas, healthcare concerns, and worrisome demographic trends.

So far this year IssuesPA has published more than 80 articles, news releases, and e-alerts focusing on property tax relief and gaming; healthcare and medical liability; community vitality and the well being of our cities and towns; infrastructure; and the State’s economic performance. During the third quarter, emphasis was on the State Budget and various long-term trends. In addition, in conjunction with the release of the third IssuesPA/Pew Poll in September, PEL launched a series of articles on health care. The poll results indicated that Pennsylvanians are growing increasingly concerned about the direction of the state, as well as various healthcare issues including costs, quality, access, and the overall impact of our medical liability system.

Thanks in large part to funding from The Pew Charitable Trusts, The William Penn Foundation, and The Pittsburgh Foundation, IssuesPA will remain the preeminent resource on state-level issues and policies in Pennsylvania and will continue to help ensure that good ideas and strategies are brought forward, debated, and ultimately put into action. It will do this by focusing on many of the issues of the day and will also draw attention to those issues that should be addressed but which are often avoided by decision-makers. Please visit www.issuespa.net regularly to keep up-to-date on PEL’s nonpartisan analysis of the issues most critical to the Commonwealth’s future.

Aiding Workforce Development Efforts – For the third year PEL’s State Office is providing the Pennsylvania Association of Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs) with policy and administrative support consisting of advice on matters of state government operations, research and analysis on specific workforce issues, agenda setting, meeting materials preparation, and organizational communications. The Association represents 18 of Pennsylvania’s 22 Workforce Investment Boards. The intent of the Association is to exchange ideas and formulate policy positions reflecting local workforce development priorities and realities.

Analyzing the State’s Economic Stimulus Package – At the request of the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, PEL is leading an analysis of the economic stimulus legislation, as passed. The analysis will evaluate the programs with a bottom line objective of answering the question, “Will we get our money’s worth”? This includes identifying the objectives of the initiative, requiring systems to measure the degree of success, and instituting an audit function to validate the results. The longer term goal is to encourage similar processes in other economic development programs. The project’s completion has been delayed due to the minimal progress in putting the programs on line at the state level.

Participating in the Project on Medical Liability – PEL continues to participate in the Project on Medical Liability in Pennsylvania. The effort, which is funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts, seeks to provide decision-makers with objective information about how medical, legal, and insurance-related issues affect the medical liability system, to broaden participation in the debate to include new constituencies and perspectives, and to focus attention on what matters most: the relationship between medical liability and the health and well-being of the citizens of Pennsylvania and the overall vitality and strength of the Commonwealth. The project recently received an additional year of funding and will continue to produce empirical research, expert reports, and opinion papers. For the next year of the project PEL will take a lead role in connecting the effort to Pennsylvania’s policy leadership community through outreach and communications activities. Medical liability is a major issue for state level public officials, and PEL will contribute to the ongoing debate with articles and resources about healthcare on IssuesPA, and as part of the Project on Medical Liability, and, in so doing, provide important information and insight to aid state policymakers in shaping good health care policies for Pennsylvania.