Criminal Justice Reform

Unanimous Senate Vote Advances Criminal Justice Reform

  • May 2, 2018

The state Senate embraced criminal justice reform this week by unanimously passing three pieces of legislation comprising the Justice Reinvestment Initiative (JRI) II reforms. The first slate of JRI…

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Taxes & Economy

Wolf’s Severance Tax Among the Highest in the Nation

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • May 1, 2018

The Governor's fourth natural gas tax proposal, and 11th tax proposal overall, is now embodied in legislation. SB 1000 and HB 2253 join nine other bills sitting in the House and Senate, all…

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Government Accountability

Government that Works?in the Shadows

  • May 1, 2018

Legislation introduced by Rep. Seth Grove—House Bill 1843—injects a much-needed dose of transparency into the state budget. The proposal would give taxpayers access to critical budget documents and financial…

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Taxes & Economy

Migration Update

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • April 28, 2018

https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2018/popest-metro-county.html The ten counties that experienced the greatest growth via domestic migration (“destination states”) had a lower average tax burden than the counties that experienced the greatest declines (“deserted states”). p 10…

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Public Union Democracy

PSU Graduate Students Reject Unionization

  • Jessica Barnett
  • April 25, 2018

According to preliminary results, Penn State graduate assistants have voted to reject joining the Pennsylvania State Education Association. If the Coalition of Graduate Employees convinced a majority of voting graduate…

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State Budget

Pa.’s Economy Continues to Underwhelm

  • April 25, 2018

Just how burdensome have Pennsylvania taxes and regulations become? According to the latest edition of Rich States, Poor States (RSPS), the commonwealth ranks 35th in the nation for economic performance…

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Regulation

Seize Opportunities to Transform Pennsylvania

  • April 24, 2018

Maximizing our state’s potential requires a willingness to break from the status quo and find better ways to govern. Several improvements indicate Pennsylvania is moving in this direction, such…

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Education

Students Harmed when Scholarships are Politicized

  • Colleen Hroncich
  • April 23, 2018

Bill Blum, Director of Finance at Kennedy Catholic High School (KCHS) in Hermitage, witnesses the power of education choice every day. But he’s also seen the suffering caused when these…

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Health Care

Welfare Reform is Sweeping the Nation

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • April 20, 2018

“Right now, America combines near-record-low unemployment with near-record-high welfare dependency — the result of state-level eligibility exemptions, federal loopholes and policies that put work on the back burner.” Those are…

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