Every family, business owner, and taxpayer in Pennsylvania should be able to increase their financial security without undue interference from our state government. Free-market policies that limit taxes, allow entrepreneurs to innovate and create jobs, and offer stability to families will put our state on track to become a national leader. Policies that enact spending limits, cut taxes, and reduce regulations will help Pennsylvania avoid debt and restore sound fiscal planning that will benefit citizens in the years to come.

Taxes & Economy

Pennsylvania’s Fork in the Road on Transportation Spending

  • Nathan Benefield
  • March 14, 2012

Motorists frustrated with high gas prices should be on the alert—your pain at the pump could get worse, and it has nothing to do with Middle East tensions or gas…

Commentary

Read More: Pennsylvania’s Fork in the Road on Transportation Spending

Taxes & Economy

Fighting Fiction with Fracking Facts

  • March 13, 2012

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of speaking to Tea Party Patriots of Central Pa on environmental aspects of natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania and new Marcellus Shale regulations and…

Media

Read More: Fighting Fiction with Fracking Facts

Criminal Justice Reform

Chart of the Day: Corrections Spending

  • March 12, 2012

Today’s chart highlights the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections’ skyrocketing spending since 1980. This unsustainable growth is part of the four-alarm fire that threatens Pennsylvania’s fiscal house. For more…

Media

Read More: Chart of the Day: Corrections Spending

Education

Does Underfunding Pensions “Help the Kids”?

  • Nathan Benefield
  • March 9, 2012

A letter I recently submitted to the Allentown Morning Call on state education subsidies and pension funding: The Morning Call’s article on state subsidies to school districts has…

Media

Read More: Does Underfunding Pensions “Help the Kids”?

Criminal Justice Reform

Nurses’ Union Opposes Corrections Reform

  • March 7, 2012

At yesterday’s House Appropriations Committee, Department of Corrections Sec. John Wetzel explained his roadmap to reducing corrections spending, now the third-largest department in the General Fund Budget. What was…

Media

Read More: Nurses’ Union Opposes Corrections Reform

Taxes & Economy

Who Wants to Pay More for Electricity?

  • March 6, 2012

A new study by the Manhattan Institute confirms that forcing states to purchase renewable energy hurts taxpayers. Pennsylvania is one of the 29 states (as well as the…

Media

Read More: Who Wants to Pay More for Electricity?

Taxes & Economy

Utility Rates Drop Again Thanks to Marcellus Drilling

  • March 5, 2012

Natural gas drilling is continuing to provide significant savings for Pennsylvania families across the state through lower electricity and natural gas prices. Last week, PPL Electric Utilities, servicing eastern…

Media

Read More: Utility Rates Drop Again Thanks to Marcellus Drilling

State Budget

Chart of the Day: Welfare Spending

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • March 5, 2012

Total welfare spending in Pennsylvania more than tripled from 1991 to 2012, rising 227 percent. During the same period (1991-2011) population rose by a paltry 6.7 percent. It goes without…

Media

Read More: Chart of the Day: Welfare Spending

State Budget

Big Government Limits Economic Growth

  • March 2, 2012

Last month, Gov. Tom Corbett’s budget address kicked off state budget negotiations. As lawmakers debate priorities, one thing is crystal clear—low government spending fosters economic growth. The Mercatus Center’s…

Media

Read More: Big Government Limits Economic Growth

Taxes & Economy

Pennsylvania Businesses Face the Highest Taxes

  • Nathan Benefield
  • March 1, 2012

A new study from the Tax Foundation finds that mature Pennsylvania businesses are the highest taxed in the nation. Newly established operations in the commonwealth are the second highest taxed,…

Media

Read More: Pennsylvania Businesses Face the Highest Taxes

Regulation

Sounding the Alarm to Save Pennsylvania

  • February 29, 2012

A four-alarm fire is engulfing Pennsylvania's economy.  If we don't regain control of the state debt, corrections costs, public welfare growth and government employee pensions, our state taxpayers will be…

Commentary

Read More: Sounding the Alarm to Save Pennsylvania

State Budget

5 Scary Facts about Pennsylvania’s Welfare Spending

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • February 29, 2012

Welfare spending in Pennsylvania is out of control. The Department of Public Welfare is now the largest department in the state. It will continue to crowd out education, environmental…

Media

Read More: 5 Scary Facts about Pennsylvania’s Welfare Spending

Education

Pennsylvania K-12 Education Spending

  • February 29, 2012

Pennsylvania's K-12 education revenue increased from $13 billion in 1995-96 to $26 billion in 2009-10. Adjusted for inflation, that represents a 44% increase in revenue per student.  …

Fact Sheet

Read More: Pennsylvania K-12 Education Spending

Taxes & Economy

Pennsylvania’s Once-Great Cities

  • Nathan Benefield
  • February 23, 2012

If you missed it, ReasonTV put out a great video on the city of Harrisburg’s fiscal disaster, asking whether Harrisburg’s nightmare is America’s Future. Much of what…

Media

Read More: Pennsylvania’s Once-Great Cities

Regulation

Goodbye Gus, Hello Private Partnerships

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • February 23, 2012

Say goodbye to the second-most famous groundhog in Pennsylvania. Not having Gus in Pennsylvania lottery commercials will save $140,000. But changes in the state lottery may not end with dropping…

Media

Read More: Goodbye Gus, Hello Private Partnerships

Criminal Justice Reform

Sec. John Wetzel Talks Corrections Reforms on The BOX

  • February 22, 2012

In latest podcast from The BOX, Corrections Secretary John Wetzel chats with Matt Brouillette about reducing the cost of corrections – a major expenditure in the Pennsylvania state budget…

Media

Read More: Sec. John Wetzel Talks Corrections Reforms on The BOX

State Budget

Pennsylvania Welfare Spending

  • February 22, 2012

The FY 2011-12 total operating budget of $63.4 billion, which included $27.1 billion in General Fund spending, represented the first year-to-year reduction in state spending in at least 40 years.

Fact Sheet

Read More: Pennsylvania Welfare Spending

Taxes & Economy

DRBC Moratorium Puts Residents’ Property Rights in Limbo

  • February 21, 2012

Wayne County land owners in favor of natural gas drilling are fed up with the Delaware River Basin Commission’s baseless moratorium on fracking. The commission has suspended natural…

Media

Read More: DRBC Moratorium Puts Residents’ Property Rights in Limbo

Regulation

State Liquor Stores’ Soviet-style Socialism Fails

  • February 16, 2012

The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board once again proves it does not know how to manage a business, and its Soviet-style socialist control fails to satisfy customers. More than a month…

Media

Read More: State Liquor Stores’ Soviet-style Socialism Fails

Taxes & Economy

Report Finds Pennsylvania Welfare System Unsustainable, Hurting Poor

  • February 16, 2012

The Commonwealth Foundation released today an alarming new report on Pennsylvania public welfare that finds widespread abuse of tax dollars, with spending growing faster than the economy and exceeding education…

Press Release

Read More: Report Finds Pennsylvania Welfare System Unsustainable, Hurting Poor