Many Pennsylvanians face chronic unemployment, welfare dependency, and the cycle of poverty. This happens because labor incentives have been overridden by bad policies that keep millions out of the workforce and enact excessive red tape. We can reverse this trend by ending the practice of waiving work requirements on able-bodied Pennsylvanians with no dependents, removing barriers to employment for those seeking a fresh start, and creating a healthcare system without burdensome regulations.

Taxes & Economy

The Dignity of Work in Rural Pennsylvania

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • April 19, 2018

The Brockway Center for Arts and Technology (BCAT) is only five years old, but it has helped over 100 unemployed and underemployed Pennsylvanians find fulfilling and family-sustaining healthcare careers.

Media

Read More: The Dignity of Work in Rural Pennsylvania

Taxes & Economy

House Passes Work-Promoting Medicaid Reform

  • April 17, 2018

Today, the state House passed legislation, HB 2138, promoting independence among healthy, adult Medicaid recipients by requiring them to find part-time work or engage in job training to continue receiving…

Press Release

Read More: House Passes Work-Promoting Medicaid Reform

Health Care

House Takes Step Towards Transformative Welfare Reform

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • April 10, 2018

Lawmakers took a significant step towards strengthening human service programs today. The House Health Committee passed HB 2138 with bipartisan support to restore the dignity of work for people…

Media

Read More: House Takes Step Towards Transformative Welfare Reform

Health Care

What’s the Goal of Welfare Reform?

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • April 6, 2018

Pennsylvania's welfare system focuses on how much one needs to “get by” or how many different services and programs one can qualify for. These are well-intentioned attitudes that stem from…

Media

Read More: What’s the Goal of Welfare Reform?

Taxes & Economy

More Dependency Isn’t the Answer to PA Poverty

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • March 28, 2018

Department of Human Services (DHS) Secretary Teresa Miller wants more people on food stamps (or SNAP). In a hearing with the Senate Appropriations Committee, she argued that because the program…

Media

Read More: More Dependency Isn’t the Answer to PA Poverty

Health Care

Missing the Mark in Medicaid

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • March 15, 2018

When it comes to welfare, state government asks the wrong question. That’s the premise of Rep. Kerry Benninghoff’s views on welfare reform in the latest Brews and Views podcast.

Media

Read More: Missing the Mark in Medicaid

Health Care

Pressure Mounts to Create a Pathway to Prosperity in Medicaid

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • March 8, 2018

During state budget hearings this week, Pennsylvanians learned some unwelcome news about healthy adults added to Medicaid under the Obamacare expansion: less than half are working. The Department of Human Services (DHS)…

Media

Read More: Pressure Mounts to Create a Pathway to Prosperity in Medicaid

Health Care

Improving Medicaid through Work & Community Engagement

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • March 2, 2018

For the first time, the federal government is allowing states to require recipients to pursue work, education, or community engagement to maintain Medicaid benefits. With wide support in Pennsylvania, this…

Fact Sheet

Read More: Improving Medicaid through Work & Community Engagement

Criminal Justice Reform

Pennsylvania’s Overspending Problem Still Proving Costly

  • February 16, 2018

To balance last year’s budget, Gov. Wolf and lawmakers agreed to dedicate a portion of Tobacco Settlement Fund payments to cover a $1.5 billion bond issuance. This decision to…

Media

Read More: Pennsylvania’s Overspending Problem Still Proving Costly

Criminal Justice Reform

Criminal Justice Reforms Continue to Benefit Pennsylvanians

  • January 23, 2018

Pennsylvania’s bipartisan criminal justice efforts are continuing to pay dividends. According to statistics released by the Department of Corrections (DOC), the state’s prison population fell by 863 inmates—the…

Media

Read More: Criminal Justice Reforms Continue to Benefit Pennsylvanians

Health Care

Poll: Voters Overwhelmingly Support Medicaid Work Requirements

  • January 16, 2018

In other states, thousands of Americans previously dependent on government programs have transformed their lives and achieved independence thanks to work requirements. But Pennsylvania’s human services system still traps people…

Press Release

Read More: Poll: Voters Overwhelmingly Support Medicaid Work Requirements

Health Care

States Get Green Light to Propose Medicaid Work Requirements

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • January 11, 2018

It's official: The Trump administration has formally endorsed the policy of work requirements for healthy Medicaid recipients. For years states have sought this flexibility to help beneficiaries of Medicaid—government-run health insurance…

Media

Read More: States Get Green Light to Propose Medicaid Work Requirements

Taxes & Economy

Lawmakers Seek to Restore Dignity of Work

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • January 3, 2018

In the first press conference of 2018, House Republicans introduced a package of bills aimed at breaking generational poverty. Rep. Tobash urged reform given the desperate state of…

Media

Read More: Lawmakers Seek to Restore Dignity of Work

Health Care

Obamacare Exchanges Continue To Dissapoint

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • December 14, 2017

Open enrollment for Obamacare exchange plans ends on December 15. It is convenient to blame the new administration and efforts to repeal the law for dwindling choices, disappointing enrollment, and…

Media

Read More: Obamacare Exchanges Continue To Dissapoint

Health Care

Obamacare Creates Another Round of Premium Hikes

  • Elizabeth Stelle, Nathan Benefield
  • October 18, 2017

Governor Wolf announced exchange insurance premiums will increase by 30 percent next year thanks to President Trump and Congress. The problem is insurance rates have increased every year under…

Media

Read More: Obamacare Creates Another Round of Premium Hikes

Health Care

Restoring the Dignity of Work

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • October 17, 2017

The benefits of work are widely known. Yet major welfare programs treat work as a burden instead of the pathway to prosperity. Restoring work in food stamps alone could improve…

Report

Read More: Restoring the Dignity of Work

Health Care

Wolf’s Wrongheaded Veto Threat

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • October 9, 2017

Governor Wolf intends to veto Pennsylvania’s welfare code (HB 59) due to a reform contained within the bill—even though the reform can reduce poverty and stimulate economic growth. The modest reform instructs the…

Media

Read More: Wolf’s Wrongheaded Veto Threat

Health Care

Five Medicaid Work Requirement Truths

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • August 24, 2017

Work leaves families better off. To ignore this fact and urge people to trust a failing Medicaid system is nothing short of a moral scandal.

Fact Sheet

Read More: Five Medicaid Work Requirement Truths

Health Care

Higher Liquor Prices Just the Latest Hit to Pennsylvania Families

  • Nathan Benefield
  • August 4, 2017

The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board announced it would be arbitrarily raising prices on 422 wine and liquor products. This increase is a result of the “liquor modernization” efforts—which have…

Media

Read More: Higher Liquor Prices Just the Latest Hit to Pennsylvania Families

Taxes & Economy

SNAP Reform Shows Promising Results

  • Jessica Barnett
  • August 3, 2017

Innovative work requirements have the potential to transform the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) from a program perpetuating poverty, to one fostering prosperity. Now, data released by the…

Media

Read More: SNAP Reform Shows Promising Results

Health Care

Obamacare Continues to Destabilize Health Insurance

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • July 25, 2017

Obamacare repeal efforts have included transformative Medicaid reform, but retained many of the regulations responsible for collapsing individual markets. On Friday, the Pennsylvania Insurance Department released shocking individual insurance rate requests…

Media

Read More: Obamacare Continues to Destabilize Health Insurance