Newspaper: Dark cloud hangs over Legislature

The Pennsylvania Legislature swore in new members this week in room full of colorful flowers, but not is all rosy at the state Capitol as the lawmakers tackle a variety of issues left undone from the last session ... and the state's deepening fiscal crisis, which some GOP legislators are calling an "economic collapse."

From an editorial in today's edition of The Pottstown Mercury:

Legislators can no longer go along conducting business as usual, spending the most of any state legislature in the nation, while state agencies face deep cuts in employees and services.

In nearly every sector of the economy, difficult decisions are being made and things long taken for granted as necessities are being reviewed and eliminated. The state Legislature can not be the exception.

A new group has taken office, and the calendar has turned another page. The new leaf this year should be to become leaders in fiscal prudence, in cutting waste and in bringing into balance the cost of government.

The Legislature could make a name for itself as leaders in Pennsylvania by taking radical steps to cut their own spending.

Just imagine: Taxpayers could rejoice.

Read the full editorial, "Dark financial cloud hangs over Legislature," at the newspaper's Web site.