A road map to rebuild Pennsylvania

After eight disastrous years under Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell, Pennsylvania is is serious trouble.

But there is hope. Rendell is gone. Republican Tom Corbett will be sworn in today as the state's new governor.

With so many problems facing Gov. Corbett, where to begin?

The Commonwealth Foundation, an independent, non-partisan, free-market public policy think tank, has come up with a road map to help rebuild Pennsylvania's economic vitality, offering 80 concrete recommendations to make needed reforms to various state programs and agencies.

From the introduction to the report:

Pennsylvania's newly-elected governor and the 2011-12 General Assembly will face a host of challenges created by the previous governor bent on a tax-borrow-spend-and-control mentality that has driven the commonwealth into a potential $5 billion budget deficit. These fiscal challenges also include an education system with a wide achievement gap for students and parents demanding more options for their children, a recession that has led to the highest unemployment rate in 30 years, a public that has lost faith in its leaders and economic growth that has trailed the rest of the nation for decades.

Pennsylvania must undergo a rapid transformation to reverse the poor policy decisions that have eroded economic freedoms and brought the state to its present condition. To provide a road map for success in this critical endeavor, the Commonwealth Foundation has compiled a list of 80 policy recommendations for Gov. Corbett and state legislators to help lead a Pennsylvania comeback.

You can download the full 12-page "80 Ideas for a Prosperous Pennsylvania" report here.