No more lawmaker graft?

  • Nathan Benefield
  • March 2, 2007

Speaker O’Brien wants to end funding of members’ non-profits, the Post-Gazette reports. The opening line says it all: Legislators would no longer be able to quietly steer tax dollars…

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Selective School Choice

  • Nathan Benefield
  • March 2, 2007

Clint Bolick Commentary in today’s WSJ on how the leading Democrat contenders think school choice should be limited to the rich (i.e. themselves).

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Spending Limits & the Budget

  • Nathan Benefield
  • March 1, 2007

Budget Secretary Michael Masch had some interesting comments about government spending and the proposed Taxpayer Protection Act during yesterday’s Appropriation Committee hearing, courtesy of PLS Committee Summary (subscription):…

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PHEAA reveals spending records

  • Nathan Benefield
  • March 1, 2007

After a lengthy legal battle, the Patriot News finally got some financial records from PHEAA, a state agency which had claimed to be exempt from open records laws. Though…

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Payoff to Big Labor

  • Nathan Benefield
  • February 28, 2007

Rep. John Boehner on the union-led efforts to pass legislation that eliminate secret-ballot elections to unionize. Boehner misses the point when he compares union leaders to Hugo Chavez and…

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House Reform Group Issues Recommendations

  • Nathan Benefield
  • February 28, 2007

Tracie Mauriello reports in the Post-Gazette on the reforms recommended by the PA House Reform Commission. Of course, since any recommendation had to be supported by 3/4ths of both…

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Army of Accountants?

  • Nathan Benefield
  • February 28, 2007

When Governor Rendell proposed a new tax on oil profits, he claimed the cost “would not be passed on to consumers,” and that the Attorney General would have the power…

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Jackpot for Gambling Staff

  • Nathan Benefield
  • February 28, 2007

WGAL’s Ben Simmoneau is reporting that Gaming Control Board Staff make hefty salaries, higher than most make in other state jobs. The Gaming Board tries to justify its higher…

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School Spending Data

  • Nathan Benefield
  • February 27, 2007

The NCES released a report today titled An Historical Overview of Revenues and Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary Education, by State: Fiscal Years 1990–2002. The full report is…

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