The Pennsylvania Economy League and the Harrisburg Regional Chamber & CREDC Present a Free Online Issues Forum

COVID-19’s Impact on Commonwealth Communities: Lessons Learned and New Challenges

Click Here for Free Registration!

• October 15, 2020, 8 a.m. to 9:15 a.m., on Zoom
• Panelists: C. Kim Bracey, Executive Director, DCED, Center for Local Government Services; David Black, President and CEO, Harrisburg Regional Chamber & CREDC; Dr. George Dougherty, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School for Public and International Policy.
• Moderater: LeeAnne Clayberger, PEL CEO
• COVID-19 Municipal Survey Results: Phil Klotz, PEL Director of Government and Community Affairs

PEL Launches New State and County COVID-19 Economic Impact Dashboard

FEATURES

• New Coronavirus Cases by Day
• Weekly Initial and Continued Unemployment Claims
• Monthly Unemployment Rates
• Industry Details
• State Map

Read: Biggest Local Government Revenue Hit from the Pandemic Expected to Begin in August

A Tale of Haves and Have-Nots: The Financial Future of PA School Districts

Is Your School District One of the Haves Or the Have-Nots?

At PEL’s fall 2019 Issue Forum events, Timothy Shrom presented findings of a recent Temple University Center on Regional Politics policy brief  that forecasts surpluses and shortfalls for Pennsylvania’s 500 school districts over the next five years. Shrom co-authored the policy brief with William Hartman. 

View the study’s interactive map here

Funding for the policy brief was provided by the William Penn Foundation

The Pennsylvania Economy League

Pennsylvania’s Independent Voice for Good Government.

Local. Nonprofit. Nonpartisan.

From 1936 to today, we have a long tradition of providing critical analysis, perspective and support for action that will make Pennsylvania a better place to live, work and do business. Click here to learn more!

Join Us

We strive to strengthen the health of local governments so that they can provide the vital serves we depend on to run our businesses, educate our children and conduct our lives. Click here to learn how your organization can support our mission.

The Pennsylvania Economy League (PEL) is an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization; it is not an agency of the Commonwealth.

Read PEL’s Statewide Municipal Distress Report 

“Communities in Crisis: The Truth and Consequences of Municipal Fiscal Distress in Pennsylvania, 1970 to 2014” looks at the fiscal health of 2,388 Pennsylvania municipalities

PEL and Community Foundation representatives

Commentary

Read PEL’s latest commentary Free PA State Police Costs Everyone. Half of the Commonwealth’s municipalities receive local police protection for free from the Pennsylvania State Police, a cost pegged at $540 million or more than half of the PSP’s annual budget. The situation is another example of the state’s fragmented local government system.

Bad News for PA Cities. A recent research brief by the Pennsylvania Data Center showed that the majority of cities that experienced statistically significant change in income levels, housing values and poverty rates over the past 10 years saw declines rather than improvements. The figures demonstrate why it is so difficult for Pennsylvania cities to make ends meet.

Heroin Use in PA Rises While Local Police Resources Fall. PEL recently held a series of events examining the problem of the state’s growing heroin epidemic. The surge in heroin abuse comes at the same time a growing number of municipalities are finding it harder to fund an adequate level of police coverage.

The Quiet Boom and Potential Bust of PA Townships Recent data indicated that the once booming Pennsylvania townships are seeing troubling signs including rising service costs and tax revenue that is either declining or flattening. The challenge for townships may soon be the same issue facing distressed cities: how to provide quality services at a price that taxpayers can afford.

Beyond Act 47: A Call to Action. The Pennsylvania Economy League prepared Beyond Act 47 as part of its work on the state legislature’s Act 47 Task Force, which is considering recommendations to the distressed municipalities act.

PEL IN THE NEWS

Communities in Crisis Study

Read the Scranton Times-Tribune story: Residents of cities bear burden as tax bases shrink

Click here for the Philadelphia Inquirer story:  Pa. towns hurting, ill-equipped to meet residents’ needs