Columbia International Affairs Online
CIAO DATE: 8/5/2007
Committing to Prosperity: Moving Forward on the Agenda to Renew Pennsylvania
2007 March
Abstract
In December 2003, the Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program released “Back to Prosperity”— a comprehensive analysis of statewide growth and development trends. “Back to Prosperity” proposed how the Commonwealth might address the underlying factors—a shifting economy, weak planning, and a history of haphazard investments—that hindered its future competitiveness.
The original report was the result of listening to literally hundreds of people across the state in a large number of “listening sessions.” Because so much of “Back to Prosperity” represented the work and concerns of the Pennsylvanians we spoke with, it is not surprising that the resulting report struck a nerve. Two dozen newspapers all over the state ran pageone stories on “Back to Prosperity” and the issues it raised. The report helped catalyze a healthy debate among a wide range of champions and critics about how to position the state for a brighter future. It also prompted the launch of a new initiative called the campaign to Renew Pennsylvania (RenewPA), a venture of 10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania, whose mission is to campaign for the kinds of systemic policy reform called for in the report. The real work toward change has begun in Pennsylvania.
Now it is time to check in on that work. With the continuing interest in the themes of the original report, Brookings and its partners decided to revisit “Back to Prosperity” and ask how Pennsylvania is faring three years after the original report. Hence this follow-up report, “Committing to Prosperity,” which is designed to carry the agenda of the original forward. The new report aims to do three things: revisit the state of the state; underscore the importance of addressing the problems described in “Back to Prosperity;” and suggest the next round of policy reforms.
