Wolf Legally Required to Reduce Spending
Gov. Wolf has a legal responsibility to reduce spending and fix a legislative mistake. Unless the legislature passes a revenue bill today—which seems unlikely—the state budget is unbalanced. Lawmakers sent…
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Read More: Wolf Legally Required to Reduce SpendingState Budget
Philadelphia’s Cigarette Tax Falls Short
Philadelphia collected nearly $59 million in cigarette taxes between July 2015 and June 2016. Well below the $77.5 million originally anticipated by state lawmakers, according to Anna Orso…
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Back to the Future: Budget Edition
Doc Brown showed up at Commonwealth Foundation headquarters in his DeLorean yesterday with a stern warning about the future. “I just returned from 2017! You’ve got to come back with…
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One of these things is not like the others . . .
Remember this popular song from the children's show Sesame Street? It goes, “One of these things is not like the others, one of these things doesn't belong. . .”…
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State Government is Spending Money it Doesn’t Have
Pennsylvania is spending taxpayer money it doesn’t have. Yesterday the Independent Fiscal Office (IFO) released its report on revenue collections for the past fiscal year. Total revenue came in…
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PA Manufacturing Withers Under High Tax Load
As Harrisburg searches for politically acceptable tax hikes to fund a record-breaking budget, Pennsylvania’s attractiveness to manufacturers continues to decline. According to a study reported by the Central…
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Broad Heating Tax Would Hit Millions
Last week, lawmakers and the governor agreed to a $31.6 billion budget, a five percent increase in spending from last year and the largest one-year jump in spending since 2006.
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Read More: Broad Heating Tax Would Hit MillionsPublic Union Democracy
Union Demands vs. Fiscal Realities
One government union’s insatiable appetite for more tax dollars has hit a brick wall. The Wolf Administration is in the process of negotiating a contract with the state’s largest…
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Will the Education Code Protect School Choice?
In addition to general appropriations (SB 1073) and the fiscal code (SB 1320), lawmakers are finalizing language in the education code, HB 530. This legislation promises significant reforms…
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