Poll: Pa. residents feeling worst economic pain in years
Gas prices hovering near $5 a gallon
When asked about his current financial situation compared to last year, Allentown resident Douglass Karll said, “Everything is worse off.”
Karll isn’t alone in his concerns. A Franklin & Marshall College poll conducted in late April and early May found about 43% of respondents believed they are “worse off ” financially than they were one year earlier, the worst level shown by the poll in the past six years.
Karll, 66, said both the cost of gas and overall inflation is hurting him, and the real estate market is also worrying him.
In the early 1960s, when his parents bought their home on 17th Street, it cost a mere $13,000. He isn’t exactly sure the cost of it now, but he knows the price would scare him — and a quick scan of 17th Street home values on the website zillow.com show many are now valued at more than $200,000.
Lawmakers from both parties in Harrisburg say they’re aware of the public’s financial pains and are taking steps to figure out what to do.
Gov. Tom Wolf has proposed using hundreds of millions of dollars in unspent federal relief money to send checks of up to $2,000 to qualifying households with incomes less than $80,000. That idea has been criticized by legislative Republicans.
Karll said that he doesn’t understand how anyone opposes Wolf’s proposal because the money should be “in the hands of the people.”
Yaileen Reyes, mother of a 2-year-old, said that she isn’t sure what officials in Harrisburg can do, but helping families should top their priorities.
“Everything is so expensive,” she said.
Reyes is looking to move from Maryland to live in Allentown, where her child lives with the father, but she can’t find an apartment she can afford on her salary as a retail store manager.
Wayne Schoolfield, 66, is going through a similar situation.
Although he has lived in Allentown for 15 years, he is looking for a new apartment. Schoolfield said that most of the apartments he has looked at are out of his price range, with some single-bedroom apartments reaching up to $2,000 a month.
A retired engineer, Schoolfield said that he now works a manufacturing job in the city on top of doing freelance 3D design work.
Besides his real estate situation, Schoolfield said that he thinks he is better off than last year.
He said that he sees plenty of jobs available for people if they want them and that “they have to be kidding” if anyone says they can’t find a job.
Similarly, David Sands, a general manager at 4 Seasons Garden Center in Breinigsville, said that he is doing better financially, overall.
He doesn’t give credit to Harrisburg. Sands said that it was planning — on his part — that set him up for success this year.
Sands said if Harrisburg officials would follow rules people like him follow, specifically don’t spend more than you take in, that would improve the state’s economy.
Republicans schedule hearings
The Franklin & Marshall poll showed inflation, gas
prices, rent, unemployment, etc., are the most mentioned problems facing Pennsylvanians in the past few months.
Twenty-four percent of people who were surveyed mentioned economic problems, including unemployment, personal finances or gas prices. As was true in March and April polling, it remains the most-mentioned problem facing Pennsylvanians.
The state’s average gasoline hit yet another high Monday at $4.95 a gallon, according to AAA. Lehigh Valley prices are even higher, with Lehigh and Northampton counties averaging about $4.99 a gallon, up 11 cents since Friday.
Overall inflation is running at 8.3%, near the highest rate in about 40 years, according to federal data.
The House Republican Policy Committee, chaired by Rep. Martin Causer of McKean County, has scheduled a series of hearings to delve into economic issues facing the state. Those hearings are scheduled to begin this week.
Jason Gottesman, spokesperson for the House Republican Caucus, said the hearings are the first step in figuring out a “pro-growth” agenda for Pennsylvania. The hearings are intended to help identify the root causes of inflation and determining long-term solutions, he said.
Sen. John Yudichak of Luzerne County, an independent and chair of the Senate Community, Economic & Recreational Development Committee, said the Franklin & Marshall statistics probably underestimate how many Pennsylvanians are struggling.
“I think 100% of Pennsylvanians are hurting,” he said.
Yudichak said that he thinks the pandemic, along with federal policy, is the root cause of the inflation crisis. He said that the best way to get through it is to get money out to small businesses with less than 50 employees.
Attempts to reach Rep. Robert Matzie of Beaver County, Democratic chair of the House Consumer Affairs Committee, were unsuccessful.
Rep. Peter Schweyer, a Lehigh County Democrat who sits on that committee, said that it is time for the state Legislature to do what it can to help people in financial need.
Schweyer said legislators can find realistic relief for people wherever possible, citing property tax relief and investments into education as examples.
“We have the most important tool to do so,” he said. “We have money.”