State Budget
How the $650 Million Tax Increase Impacts You
The state budget is, for all intents and purposes, complete. While it remains unbalanced, we now know exactly which taxes are going up. The $650 million tax hike passed by the…
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State Spending Addiction Leads to Tax Hike
Lawmakers are on the cusp of pushing through a $650 million tax increase on working Pennsylvanians. Earlier this afternoon—without much warning or debate—a conference committee passed House Bill…
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PSERS Revokes Ghost Teachers? Illegal Pension Credit
In a victory for taxpayers, the Public School Employees Retirement System (PSERS) has revoked pension credit illegally given to Allentown “ghost teachers” who were hired to teach but instead…
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Gov. Wolf’s Budget Reversal
In his many press conferences about Pennsylvania's fiscal future, Gov. Wolf was adamant about one thing: the state budget must be truly balanced. He lambasted the General Assembly for its…
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Lower State Spending Could Improve Bond Rating
Last week Moody’s warned an out-of-balance state budget could result in another credit downgrading. By not acting to balance the budget, Governor Wolf is aiding in the devaluation of the…
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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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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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