2026 Gubernatorial Nominees Address the Issues

Nearly two million working Pennsylvanians don’t have access to retirement savings programs that allows them to contribute directly from their paycheck. What would you do to ensure that Pennsylvanians have access to retirement savings accounts?

GARRITY: I would initiate Keystone Saves, which is an auto IRA program. Right now, 22 states have retirement programs, and 17 of those states are auto IRAs, and so the issue with Pennsylvania is that 44 percent of the private sector workforce, meaning 2.1 million Pennsylvanians, don’t have access to retirement programs. So what happens is, it’s costing the state a billion dollars a year in increased social services. With an auto IRA program, the employer only has to do two things, and that is provide an employee census and offer a payroll deduction.

SHAPIRO: Well, we’re going to continue to ensure that retirement is not taxed. We’re going to continue to make sure that there are investment vehicles that Pennsylvanians have access to­ and to fund those with contributions from the commonwealth—to ensure that they have savings long term. We’re exploring a number of different savings initiatives that we believe can work. I think the key is making sure that money is going into people’s pockets, not being siphoned off by government bureaucrats, but instead making their way to people who are in need, and to ensure that they can build up a savings long term.

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What would you do to address the long-term care workforce challenge?

SHAPIRO: This has been a priority for me as governor: making sure that our 3.5 million older adults have people available to help them age with dignity.... We launched Aging Our Way, PA, a 10-year strategic plan to build more supportive, inclusive communities for older Pennsylvanians.... For seniors who need care in their homes, I’ve secured millions of dollars of increased wages for folks to provide services to seniors and adults with disabilities. Last year’s budget had a significant increase in wages, paid time off and increased access to affordable insurance for about 9,000 workers who provide safe, quality care for older Pennsylvanians.

GARRITY: It’s very simple: Help more seniors remain in their homes, support family members to care for them and make sure that affordable long-term care is available when it becomes necessary. Right now, the problem is that the system is too complicated, it’s too bureaucratic, and it’s difficult for families to navigate. I think that number one, we can modernize senior care by creating a “no wrong door” system, so with one phone call or application, seniors would be connected to every program that they’re eligible [for]. We would also expand assistance for home modifications to improve safety and independence.

Some older Pennsylvanians have to delay retirement or choose between paying for prescriptions or basic household expenses. How would you lower prescription drug prices for them?

GARRITY: No seniors should skip medication because of cost.... Number one, I would break the PBM monopoly. The pharmacy benefit managers, they negotiate prescription drug prices, but too often it seems like they’re operating through ... anti-competitive practices that steer patients to affiliated pharmacies, and these practices—what they do¬is they reduce competition. As you know, they drive up costs for consumers. We need to increase transparency in the PBM contracts and pricing practices and prohibit anti-competitive pharmacy steering that limits patient choice. We also need to strengthen [Pharmaceutical Assistance Contract for the Elderly] PACE and PACENET, so Pennsylvania’s PACENET program is one of the nation’s strongest prescription drug assistance programs for seniors, but we need to simplify enrollment. We need to reduce out-of-pocket prescription costs. We need to better coordinate benefits with Medicare Part D, and I think we should automatically enroll eligible seniors when possible, wherever possible, so that more Pennsylvanians can receive the benefits that they’ve earned.

SHAPIRO: What we have seen is across the country, Medicaid, prescription drugs, the hospitals that provide care, are all seeing funding cut because of the federal cuts in Washington. What I’ve tried to do at the state level in the face of those federal cuts is step up and ensure that PACE and PACENET are protected. They provide critical help for our seniors and their prescription drugs, and so twice as governor, I’ve signed a law extending the cost-of-living moratorium for PACE and PACENET, which, in effect, has allowed 20,000 seniors to maintain their prescription drug medications despite increases in their Social Security COLA that would have disqualified them. So, but for me [not] acting, 20,000 seniors would have lost access to their prescriptions. We protected that. In addition to that, I’ve increased oversight of PBMs, the pharmacy benefit managers, to protect our seniors and cut out the profits that the middlemen are making.

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Year One, 2027 budget, what is one thing you would do in your first budget to improve the lives of older Pennsylvanians and their families?

SHAPIRO: We’re going to continue to build on the successes we’ve had. We’re going to fund Aging Our Way, PA. I’ll continue to invest in PACE and PACENET. We’ll continue to cut taxes for seniors, and I want to invest a significant amount more in the workforce that provides care for our seniors and the senior centers that are wonderful outlets for older Pennsylvanians. So, you’re going to see me continue to make the investments I have in the past and continue to stand up against the forces that want me to cut Medicaid and want me to cut PACE and PACENET and want me to cut services for seniors. I’ll never allow those cuts to occur, and I’ll continue to stand on the side of Pennsylvania seniors.

GARRITY: You know, the one thing I would do is pass a balanced budget, because all this increased spending is increasing costs for seniors, and right now we’re spending $5 billion or more a year than what we bring in, and it’s not sustainable, so I would make sure that you know we truly have to get our spending under control, because all it’s doing is it’s [causing anxiety]. The other thing I would say is I would fight for a constitutional amendment exempting all seniors from paying school property taxes. When I travel around the state—I go to all 67 counties every single year—what I hear about from every senior—and it doesn’t matter which county I’m in—that you know property taxes are too high.

Read more on the candidates at garrityforpa.com and joshshapiro.org.

As a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, AARP does not endorse candidates or make political donations.

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