Trump Heads to Pennsylvania As Families Are Paying More for Utilities, Groceries, Gas, and Healthcare

Trump and Republicans’ policies have raised costs for the average Pennsylvania family by at least $2,182 — and Rep. Scott Perry has rubber-stamped all of it.

Washington, DC – President Trump is heading to Pennsylvania today in the midst of a worsening affordability crisis of his own making. A recent report by Climate Power and the Center for American Progress Action Fund highlights how unaffordable life has become for Pennsylvanians. The report found that Trump and Rep. Scott Perry’s policies have raised costs for the average Pennsylvania household by $2,182 through the first half of 2026 — climbing to $3,695 for families who buy coverage on the ACA marketplace — driven by higher gas prices, higher utility bills, and Trump’s tariffs. Pennsylvanians are feeling it directly: AAA data show the average price of a gallon of regular gas in Pennsylvania still sits right below $4, thanks to Trump’s war of choice with Iran, which he recently claimed is back on. 

The affordability crisis facing Pennsylvanians was not created by accident. It is a result of policy choices made by Trump and Republicans in Congress, including Pennsylvania’s own Rep. Scott Perry. Perry’s 10th Congressional District has been a clear beneficiary of clean energy investment, with Harley-Davidson’s York manufacturing facility receiving an $89 million Inflation Reduction Act grant to convert the plant to build electric motorcycles. Yet Perry has voted against clean energy investments again and again, and in July 2025, voted for the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which gutted the IRA tax credits fueling growth in his own backyard.

Climate Power Senior Advisor Jesse Lee released the following statement: “Rep. Perry’s votes have enriched Trump’s billionaire friends – at the expense of Pennsylvania families – and now Trump is coming to thank him. Pennsylvanians are paying more at the pump, more on their electric bills, and more for groceries and healthcare because Trump and Republicans like Rep. Scott Perry chose tax breaks for billionaires over the clean energy jobs and investment that were already paying off in places like York. Perry had a front-row seat to what clean energy investment could do for his own district, and he voted to rip it away anyway.”