NEPA Residents Need a Pot of Gold to Afford the Rising Cost of Health Care, Energy, and Other Basic Necessities

March 18, 2026

Scranton, PENNSYLVANIA - This weekend, Affordable Pennsylvania and Action Together NEPA celebrated St. Patrick’s Day by holding their elected leaders accountable for rising costs and assistance cuts that have put Pennsylvanians between a (sham)rock and a hard place.

“When I started renting my place last May, my electric bill was $40. Can you guess how much I paid for electricity this month, March 2026? I paid $583. That’s more than half my monthly rent. A quarter of my biweekly paycheck,” said Morgan of Jenkins Township. “Nearly $600 to heat my home when the cost of housing, health care, and groceries are up. Gas is $3.59 a gallon. I’m trying to save for graduate school. This economy is not conducive to young people just starting out. How can someone build a life in these conditions? Our elected leaders need to step up - fight for affordable living, lower the cost of basic necessities, and do something for your constituents who are struggling.”

On Saturday, Affordable PA attended the annual Scranton St. Patrick’s Day parade to distribute fact sheets highlighting Congressman Bresnahan’s vote last summer for the Republican Tax Law that made historic cuts to Medicaid, breaking his numerous promises to protect the program and threatening care for his more than 200,000 constituents who rely on the program. Ahead of voting to cut the program by over $900 billion to pay for bigger tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations, Congressman Bresnahan offloaded six figures worth of stock in Medicaid providers. On the parade route, attendees could see Affordable PA’s new billboard calling out Bresnahan’s Medicaid cuts and stock sale.

On Tuesday afternoon, Affordable PA and Action Together NEPA held a special Saint Patrick’s themed rally for affordable energy to call on Rep. Bresnahan and Senator McCormick to restore the clean energy tax credits they cut in the Republican Tax Law last summer. Clean energy subsidies help to lower electricity and gas prices, create hundreds of thousands of jobs, and expand U.S. energy independence. Their vote to repeal these tax credits will raise energy prices, shut down energy production facilities, and reduce energy supply. In Pennsylvania, experts found that average annual electricity costs would increase by $93 for households and 10 percent for businesses in 2026, the average household would spend $582 more on gasoline annually by 2035, and 6,845 jobs would be at risk.

ICYMI: Scranton Times-Tribune: Advocacy groups, constituents rally in favor of affordable energy

• Constituents, wearing green, displayed signs and shared personal stories about their struggles with high energy costs, officials said.

• The rally — which opposed the votes from McCormick and U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan, R-8, Dallas Twp. for President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” — was part of Action Together NEPA’s Show Up/Speak Out campaign to hold legislators accountable, officials said.

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