FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
State Rep. Ronald Waters D-Delaware/Phila. www.pahouse.com/waters

Waters on national panel on stimulating economic prosperity

HARRISBURG, Jan. 25 – State Rep. Ronald G. Waters, D-Phila./Delaware, will be a featured panelist Friday at the 115^th Annual Wall Street Project Economic Summit in New York City. The event is sponsored by the Rainbow Push Coalition and the Citizenship Education Fund.

Waters, chairman of the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus, will join five other elected state officials from the Mid-Atlantic, Northeast and Texas for a discussion of "From Crisis to Working Communities – Next Steps in Access to Economic Prosperity."

The focus of the panel will be on how states and cities are responding to the fragile economy and considering viable solutions to reduce the economic disparities in our society.

In looking forward at the message he will take to the conference, Waters said that, in Pennsylvania, with conservatives in the majority in the Legislature and holding the governor’s office, the possibility of any state initiatives toward a large-scale employment initiative are slim at best.

"Our best hope is, as asserted in President Obama’s State of the Union Address, a national commitment to job development in urban areas," said Waters. "In the Pennsylvania General Assembly, no matter how practical a jobs program we propose, it is going to run into a brick wall on the other side of the aisle."

Waters said the most immediate crisis for Pennsylvania is the massive defunding of public education by the Republican-controlled Legislature and Gov. Corbett.

"The nation is learning about dire situation in Chester-Upland, where funding has eroded to the point that the district was questionable about making it to the end of the school calendar," Waters said. "President Obama even took note, again in his State of the Union Address, how dedicated the faculty has been to continue working with the students after their paychecks stopped."

"Without properly educating our children, it doesn’t matter how many or how potentially effective the economic redevelopment and jobs programs that we can design are … if we erode the next generation’s education, ultimate failure becomes more likely."

Waters said his presentation will include JumpstartPA, a 10-point plan House Democrats have proposed in light of the Republican failure to address revitalizing Pennsylvania’s economy.

The strategy would begin with a comprehensive, long-term plan for fixing and upgrading commonwealth roads, bridges and mass transit systems.

###