In the late 1970’s and the early 1980’s, increased obsolescence and foreign competition, as well as a series of national economic recessions, led to a massive decline of the steel industry. Many steel mills closed permanently, and thousands of workers lost their jobs. Moreover, Pennsylvania’s population growth slowed to 0.6 percent during the 1970’s and to only 0.1 percent during the 1980’s. Many of its best-trained and highly educated people left the state in search of a better economic opportunities.

Pennsylvania plays a major role in U.S. politics, in 1990 was ranked 5th in population and it has 21 representatives, and 23 electoral votes. Today, Pennsylvania is headed by Republican Governor Tom Ridge, who has a vision of his own for Pennsylvania’s future. This bright future includes: welfare reform, the environment, education, and the local economy.

Welfare Reform- The Republican state party believes that the state government has spend billions to eradicate poverty. But, instead of helping people out of poverty, government has created a cycle of dependency. Today’s welfare system has lost sight of the values that Pennsylvanians believe in: family values, education, work, and self sufficiency.

Pennsylvania’s Republicans want a new and improved welfare system, that is based on family, education, and work. They want a system that embodies common sense and compassion by calling on Pennsylvanian’s traditions. This new system calls for all Pennsylvanians to work together and to help each other through work ethic, commitment to the family, and education.

This proposal creates an Agreement of Mutual Responsibility that spells out the steps welfare recipients and state caseworkers together must take to help individuals achieve self-sufficiency. Only, when both the state and the welfare recipients agree to do their part, people will be better empowered to escape the welfare trap.

The unity of the family will play a big role in the Republican welfare reform. Families must be kept together and not driven apart. Teen parents will be required to live at home or in an adult supervised setting. Welfare recipients will be required to cooperate in the establishment of paternity.

A 115% increase in funding for daycare and other support services will help welfare parents go to work and/or school. In today’s society, no diploma equals no job. The young welfare recipients will be required to go back to school, remain in school, and get a degree. Also, job training for other recipients will be increased by 66% in programs that have been proven to work. With these new programs, people will learn job skills and just as importantly, employment skills such as interview techniques and resume writing.

Work, in order to receive welfare benefits, recipients will be required to start their job search immediately. " There is dignity in all work" ( according to Governor Ridge). Even a part-time job leads to a work history and better jobs down the line. Also, those who are still on public assistance after two years will be required to work at least 20 hrs a week to maintain eligibility. Lastly, the new welfare reform would required those applying for welfare assistance to be resident of Pennsylvania for 12 months before becoming eligible for benefits.

The Environment Governor Ridge’s proposal for the environment is to built a new environmental partnership to protect Pennsylvania’s environment and public health, using sound science and technology to secure compliance assistance, pollution prevention, and other effective use of the natural and human resources.

Gov. Ridge signed legislation to establish a more realistic standards for the cleanup of abandoned industrial cites, to encourage their reuse. This legislation can serve as a national model on how to overcome the failures of the past federal and state cleanup policies. The Gov. said " the new policy focused on "getting the environmental results we want: site cleanups-while producing significant economic benefits-putting people back to work.""

The re structuring of DER (Department of Environmental Resources) into two cabinet level agencies, will play a big role. One will protect the environment and the other will manage state parks and forests. The new structure will enhance the governmental stature of Pennsylvania’s vast acreage of park and forest land; which are popular destination for people that love the outdoors. It will also support the Governor’s strategy to seek compliance rather than confrontation in environmental law enforcement.

Education Governor Ridge wants to increased state funding for Pennsylvania’s 501 school districts. $ 1.4 million will be made available for charter schools, planning grants for parents, teachers, and community organizations to plan and develop charter schools. Grants totaling $ 250,000 will be awarded to community based organizations to recruit new mentors for " at-risk youth " who live in troubled communities.

The Governor also plans to send to the legislature a "dramatic education reform plan," the K.I.D.S plan, to make public schools more effective and to enable parents to choose the school that best meet their children’s needs (public or private). The plan also includes the start of a grant program to help children from low to moderate income families to attend the school of their choice. Moreover, the plan will allocate money for distance learning in rural districts, alternative schools for disruptive students, and a greater local autonomy from state regulations.

The Economy Governor Ridge wants to create a " job friendly " Pennsylvania that enables employers and communities to provide all Pennsylvanians with unmatched economic opportunities and unsurpassed quality of life in an increasingly competitive job market. The plan is to reduced the cost of doing business in order to create more jobs in the private sector. This means state tax reduction, including cuts in the corporate net income tax and incentives to interstate companies to locate their jobs in Pennsylvania. Gov. Ridge is also encouraging more Pennsylvania businesses large and small to expand their exports abroad. Tourism will also play a part in Pennsylvania’s economy, this will mean more jobs for the state.

Investing in community growth will help the economy too. The Pennsylvania Development Bank will make capital available and provide assistance to people in struggling urban and rural neighborhoods to rebuilt their communities with small businesses and services. This enterprise will provide services and products needed within the local economy, hence it will improved the overall economy.

This is the Pennsylvania that the state Republican party wants for the future. A state that is clean, with good schools, and a strong economy. A place where every adult and child can achieve his/her full potential and reach for the stars in spite of his/her background. This is the vision that the state Republican party has, not only for Pennsylvania, but for the whole country.