PA Governor Rendell Calls for Prompt Action on Economic Relief and Recovery Agenda

Statewide Policy Address Focuses on Jobs, Health Care, Tuition Relief

March 11, 2009 -- PITTSBURGH – In a statewide policy address, Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell today called for urgent action by the General Assembly on his agenda for economic relief and recovery in order to help Pennsylvania lead the nation’s economic turnaround.

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Speaking from the auditorium of Pittsburgh’s Brashear High School, the Governor acknowledged the enormous pressure thousands of Pennsylvania families face just to keep their heads above water; he promised assistance and urged them to keep fighting.

“I come before you today to ask you to reject the fear that difficult times like these can instill and instead ask you to tap the reserve of optimism I know is in each of us,” Governor Rendell said in an address that was web-cast to high schools across the state. In addition, Rendell administration officials led local discussions at sites in Allentown, Scranton, Cresson, Erie, Harrisburg and Philadelphia, where the speech was viewed live via the Internet.

The Governor focused on three key areas of his relief and recovery agenda - including jobs, health care and tuition relief. He also spelled out a series of actions his administration was taking to help those who lost their jobs to retrain and find new ones, particularly in the emerging green collar sector.

“Today we are releasing $5 million in Career Opportunity Grants to help retrain 1,000 unemployed Pennsylvanians for green collar jobs,” said Rendell.

Rendell urged those who may be too proud to accept help to not view government assistance as a sign of personal failure.

“Let me be perfectly clear: your job loss, the closing of your business - in these times - is likely not your fault. It is the fault of those who blindly let our nation's banking and credit systems be manipulated to pad the pockets of the very rich, while robbing the fortunes of good hard working American families,” Governor Rendell said.

The Governor also outlined his two year fight with the General Assembly to expand health care to working Pennsylvanians whose employers do not provide them with coverage. He pointed out that the problem is getting worse; noting that a waiting list to join the state’s adultBasic health plan has doubled in just a few months to more than 200,000 individuals.

"I was not then, and I am not now, willing to stand by and do nothing as tens of thousands of uninsured Pennsylvanians suffer while we wait for the federal government to finally address the crisis," Governor Rendell said.

On March 9, Governor Rendell announced the state would invite 16,000 uninsured people to join adultBasic. In his budget proposal for 2009-10, he has asked the legislature to expand adultBasic enrollment by 50,000 people and to add prescription drug benefits to the program.

He called the stories of the uninsured “heart wrenching” and spoke of the “pain that so many of our citizens face because they or a loved one cannot afford to see a doctor, cannot pay for an urgently needed surgery, or pay the high price of getting their prescriptions filled.”

The Governor called for approval of his proposed Tuition Relief Act, which would help more than 170,000 students once in place. Under the proposal, all incoming students who qualify and seek to attend state-owned or community colleges will pay what they can afford in accordance with established financial aid practices. Every family will pay at least $1,000 a year for each child in college.

“Parents across the state are worried if they will be able to keep their jobs, so the idea of signing on the dotted line to pay tuition is frightening to many and may even feel financially irresponsible to some,” the Governor said. “Ceding to that fear is a recipe for disaster. Our future is linked to Pennsylvanians with college degrees.”

Governor Rendell concluded his speech by asking all Pennsylvanians to show compassion to each other and lend a hand whenever possible to those struggling in these tough economic times.

Additional information about Governor Rendell’s budget proposal is available at www.pa.gov. More information on existing government resources available to help residents make ends meet during tough economic times is offered at www.HereToHelp.pa.gov.

Source: Pennsylvania Governor