We agree with state Rep. Joe Hamm, R-Hepburn Township — Pennsylvania needs to do more to identify and end fraud in public assistance spending.

As Hamm noted in an article in Thursday’s edition of the Williamsport Sun-Gazette, Gov. Josh Shapiro himself acknowledged, as attorney general, that about $3 billion annually is dispersed in fraudulent payments or benefits.

“We have 14,000 individuals who have disabilities who are on a waiting list for help and yet we stand here knowing they are on the waiting list and we have at least $3 billion in waste, fraud and abuse of the system six years ago,” he said. “I don’t know how you can look at people with a straight face and say to them ‘I am fighting for you, I am working for you’ while they are on a waiting list and you know this fraud exists.”

We believe Hamm also is correct to connect this issue to property tax relief.

As we have editorialized in the past, eliminating or even significantly reducing the burden of property taxes will require both spending cuts and revenue from other sources replacing much of the property-tax revenue.

State revenue could account for that — a move that would bring the state closer to alignment with court decisions that using property taxes leads to unconstitutionally imbalanced spending on public education — but redirecting state revenues would require the state government spends less elsewhere.

Money that we all — our editorial board, conservative lawmakers like Joe Hamm and even our Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro — agree is being awarded to people on the basis of fraud and deception seems like the most logical starting point.