Commentary

Op-Ed: Pennsylvania Passes the Buck on State Budget

• Nathan Benefield
• December 7, 2020

Wolf and the legislature didn’t consider these eventualities when they completed the budget. Instead, during this bleak holiday season, they set up struggling families for a bigger tax bill next…

Commentary

Energy

Op-Ed: Was fracking to blame for Pa. Democrats’ “faceplant”?

• Kevin Mooney
• December 2, 2020

Biden’s fossil fuel flip-flop may have saved him, but fellow Democrats took the brunt of energy voters’ ire.

Commentary

Op-Ed: Navigating Pennsylvania’s Political Future

• Charles F. McElwee
• November 19, 2020

But future challenges aren’t limited to Democrats. In the case of Republicans, the party must listen to its growing working-class base, particularly in historically Democratic counties. In 2016 and 2020,…

Commentary

Op-Ed: Pennsylvania budget process should aid the cause of taxpayers and transparency

• Stephen Bloom
• November 18, 2020

The Commonwealth Foundation estimates that lawmakers could transfer $345 million from shadow reserves to help meet the current budget deficit, without even affecting current spending commitments. This transfer represents less…

Commentary

“American Education Week” is About Helping Students and Families

• Colleen Hroncich
• November 16, 2020

While we’re running out of time, it’s not too late to pass this crucial support for families. Lawmakers are returning to Harrisburg for a special post-election session, and they have…

Commentary

Op-Ed: Don’t raise taxes while PA families are hurting

• Nathan Benefield
• November 16, 2020

Months into this severe pandemic response, the economy is slowly recovering, as are state revenues, but lawmakers face a budget shortfall of at least $3 billion, according to the Independent Fiscal Office’s…

Commentary

State Budget

Balancing the State Budget Didn’t Have to Be This Hard

• Elizabeth Stelle
• November 12, 2020

If lawmakers had enacted the Taxpayer Protection Act in 2018, they would face a $770 million gap between revenues and spending. Going one step further, if lawmakers had enacted the…

Commentary

Op-Ed: Dissecting Pennsylvania’s Realignment

• Charles F. McElwee
• November 10, 2020

In Pennsylvania, Biden prevailed because enough voters in rural counties, working-class regions, and suburban towns found him inoffensive, if not appealing, during a turbulent period. Outside Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, this…

Commentary

Op-Ed: How Pennsylvania Democrats Deliberately Stoked 2020 Election Chaos

• Jennifer Stefano
• November 9, 2020

Republicans and Democrats have long understood the problems with mass mail-in ballots. The usual stages of ballot security are lost: unlike absentee ballots, some people are claiming they received unsolicited mail-in…

Commentary

Op-Ed: Learning from Pennsylvania’s Election Chaos

• Nathan Benefield
• November 6, 2020

We shouldn’t rely on courts to fix Pennsylvania’s election issues. Instead, changes to election timelines and processes should be enacted by the state legislature, not through executive actions or court…

Commentary

Key Issues to Remember as Pennsylvania Counts Its Ballots

• Colleen Hroncich
• November 4, 2020

This election has sucked all the oxygen out of the room for too long. It’s a sign that government in Washington, D.C. has grown way beyond its constitutional bounds. But…

Commentary

Op-Ed: Four Places to Watch in Pennsylvania on Election Day

• Charles F. McElwee
• November 3, 2020

From upscale suburbs to blue-collar villages, Pennsylvanians will likely determine the presidential victor. Many consider this election a referendum on Trump’s pandemic-era leadership -- especially in a state where COVID-19…

Commentary

Op-Ed: PA Supreme Court’s power grab threatens election integrity

• Stefanie Mason
• November 2, 2020

Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time that Pennsylvania’s Democrat-majority state Supreme Court usurped the Legislature to tip the political scales. In 2018, the Court threw out congressional district maps passed by the…

Commentary

Energy

Op-Ed: Drilling and Fracking Equal Jobs. Does Biden Understand That?

• Kevin Mooney
• November 2, 2020

In the past decade, fracking enabled drillers to reach the gas trapped in that shale quickly and cheaply, creating tens of thousands of jobs in the shale and pipeline service industries alone.

Commentary

Op-Ed: I still believe America’s brightest days are ahead

• Jennifer Stefano
• November 2, 2020

The British soldier was right—only we can govern ourselves, but Walter and Peggy give hope that this American approach works. This election week, we should follow their lead, treating those…

Commentary

Op-Ed: Despite pandemic challenges, health care improvements are underway

• Elizabeth Stelle
• October 29, 2020

Fixing America’s health care system will take time but the signs of progress are encouraging. If our elected leaders in Washington and Harrisburg can continue to peel back rigid restrictions,…

Commentary

Energy

Op-Ed: Pennsylvania should keep fracking and oil as pro-energy policies

• Kevin Mooney
• October 28, 2020

The Keystone State is also the nation’s second-largest producer of natural gas, third-largest producer of coal, 16th-largest producer of crude oil, and third-largest producer of electricity in general, according to…

Commentary

Should COVID-19 Keep Schools Closed? Weighing the Risks

• Marc LeBlond, Stefanie Mason
• October 23, 2020

As the dialogue about returning kids to in-person instruction continues around the state and country, it’s critical to for parents, teachers, and administrators to take into consideration the data on…

Commentary

Op-Ed: The Tax Bill Benefitted All Pennsylvanians. Will that Matter on Election Day?

• Nathan Benefield
• October 23, 2020

To be sure, these numbers preceded the COVID-19 pandemic and economic lockdowns, which devastated job growth and earnings. Pennsylvania hit its lowest unemployment rate ever in 2019, but then skyrocketed to…

Commentary

Education

Op-Ed: Pennsylvania’s Catholic Schools Face Uncertainty in the Pandemic Era

• Colleen Hroncich
• October 22, 2020

In a shutdown-induced economic downturn, however, many can’t afford private school tuition, and the donations that kept Catholic schools afloat are dropping off. About 150 Catholic schools nationwide have closed permanently…

Commentary

Op-Ed: Schuylkill County and coal country keep Pa. politics unpredictable

• Charles F. McElwee
• October 22, 2020

Schuylkill’s “Outs” are all in for Trump in a county that has markedly declined since O’Hara’s stories. In northern Schuylkill, a conveyor over Route 54 declares in black letters: “Coal…

Commentary