PENNSYLVANIA – Pennsylvanians are sounding the alarm on the affordability crisis. According to a new Quinnipiac University poll, 44 percent of Pennsylvania respondents say they are worse off financially than they were a year ago—an eight-point increase since February 2026, and 52% say the nation’s economy is getting worse.

The poll confirms what families across the Commonwealth have been saying for months: the cost of everyday life continues to rise, and Pennsylvania's Republican members of Congress have made it worse. Pennsylvania families were promised lower costs, but Reps. Ryan Mackenzie, Rob Bresnahan, and Scott Perry have repeatedly voted the other way.

They voted for the Republican Tax Law—the largest cuts to Medicaid and SNAP in history—and supported cost-raising tariffs and the Iran war, helping drive up the price of groceries, gas, electricity, housing, and health care. Gas prices are officially back above $4.00 a gallon.

"Reading that nearly half of Pennsylvanians say they're worse off financially than they were a year ago made me feel less alone. My family has been making impossible choices for months—putting groceries back on the shelf, worrying every time another utility bill arrives, and wondering what we'll have to cut next,” said KJ, from Scranton. “We were told costs would come down, but instead they keep going up. Representative Bresnahan voted for policies that have made life more expensive, and families like mine are the ones living with the consequences. When will they start helping us?”

For working families across Pennsylvania, the affordability crisis isn't measured in economic reports. It's measured every time they pay for groceries, fill up their gas tank, open their electric bill, or schedule a doctor's appointment. The new Quinnipiac poll makes clear that more Pennsylvanians are falling behind, and Affordable Pennsylvania is calling on Reps. Mackenzie, Bresnahan, and Perry to take action on rising costs.

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