Government Accountability
Pennsylvania House Passes Spending Transparency
The Pennsylvania House today passed HB 1880, by a unanimous vote. The bill would create an online, searchable database of all state spending. We are told Gov. Rendell sent…
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State Report on PA’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit
The Pennsylvania Legislative Budget and Finance Committee put out a preliminary report on the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) a few months ago, but the report has been sitting…
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An Ethnic Taste of Corporate Welfare
The benevolent Department of Community and Economic Development most recently bestowed its generosity on the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Central Pennsylvania by awarding it $20,000. This money will…
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An End to the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission?
State Representative Mike Vereb will unveil legislation to eliminated the corrupt, patronage ridden Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission at a press conference tomorrow. Capitol Ideas has some notes on the…
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Who Pays Pennsylvania’s Personal Income Tax? Part II
Pennsylvania has a flat rate Personal Income Tax (PIT) of 3.07%, which is a fair and simple distribution of taxation. Yet some people are imprudently calling for a state-wide graduated…
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Is the Harley Handout Constitutional?
Governor Ed Rendell just announced $15.4 million in economic development assistance to renovate its York County factory and train workers. $14 million of the $15.4 million comes from Capital…
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SEPTA is Financially Sound?!
In a letter to the Philadelphia Inquirer, SEPTA general manager Joe Casey challenges our commentary in which we called for SEPTA to competitively contract routes…
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Penn State Professor Feeling the (Metaphorical) Heat
Following the Commonwealth Foundation’s call for a legislative inquiry into use of tax dollars to stifle, rather than foster, scientific inquiry in the case of Penn State professor Michael…
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Pennsylvania’s Taxes Driving Residents Out
The Tax Foundation has a new Fiscal Fact on Pennsylvania’s tax system and its impact on inter-state migration. After profiling Pennsylvania’s tax climate (hint: it is…
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