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

House Republicans Introduce Welfare Reforms

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • April 6, 2011

Public Welfare is both the largest—at over $27 billion in total spending— and among the fastest growing programs in the Pennsylvania state budget.  In…

Media

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Government Accountability

Is Lawsuit Abuse Reform Coming to PA?

  • April 6, 2011

Pennsylvania is on its way to joining the 41 states that have either repealed or updated their joint and several liability law. HB 1, known as the Fair…

Media

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Education

Higher Education Spending & Performance

  • April 6, 2011

Gov. Tom Corbett's FY 2011-12 budget proposal includes $63.6 billion in total operating spending—$27.3 billion in General Fund spending—a reduction of $3.3 billion from FY 2010-11. This budget restores overall…

Fact Sheet

Read More: Higher Education Spending & Performance

Taxes & Economy

Pennsylvania State Budget Resources 2011

  • April 6, 2011

Gov. Tom Corbett's FY 2011-12 budget proposal includes $63.6 billion in total operating spending—$27.3 billion in General Fund spending—a reduction of $3.3 billion from FY 2010-11. This budget restores overall…

Fact Sheet

Read More: Pennsylvania State Budget Resources 2011

Education

Public Policy and Free Enterprise in Pennsylvania

  • Nathan Benefield
  • April 5, 2011

Public Policy and Free Enterprise in Pennsylvania represents a partnership with the Commonwealth Foundation and the department of economics at Duquesne University.  Key findings in these five papers include Over…

Commentary

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Taxes & Economy

Who’s Creating Jobs in Pennsylvania?

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • April 4, 2011

It’s clear the Marcellus Shale is revitalizing rural economies across the commonwealth by increasing local revenue and paying landowners…

Media

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Regulation

On Pennsylvania’s Job Growth

  • Nathan Benefield
  • March 31, 2011

Former Gov. Ed Rendell emerged from his semi-retirement to toot his own horn, saying his spending is why Pennsylvania’s economy is so great. Rendell cites statistics that Pennsylvania ranks…

Media

Read More: On Pennsylvania’s Job Growth

Taxes & Economy

When an Impact Fee is Really a Tax

  • March 31, 2011

The debate over an “impact fee” on natural gas for local communities experiencing drilling is becoming less and less about local communities and more about how lawmakers can get…

Media

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Taxes & Economy

PA State Budget Overview

  • March 29, 2011

Today, CF’s Nathan Benefield is speaking at the Restoring America Summit & Rally in Coraopolis, Pa.  You can find his presentation on Pennsylvania state spending, the budget and recommended…

Media

Read More: PA State Budget Overview

Criminal Justice Reform

Prisoners Cost Less in Michigan than in Pennsylvania

  • March 28, 2011

Last week, Gov. Tom Corbett announced that more than 2,000 inmates previously housed in Michigan and Virginia are returning to Pennsylvania prisons. The problem is that it’s cheaper…

Media

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Education

Students’ Ire Is Misplaced

  • Charles Mitchell
  • March 28, 2011

As I write this, there are Pennsylvania college students walking past our State Capitol holding signs reading, “Save Our System.”  It’s understandable:  Since Gov. Corbett outlined his budget, these students…

Media

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Education

Does State Aid to Universities Keep Tuition Low?

  • Nathan Benefield
  • March 25, 2011

Cato’s Neal McCluskey has a new podcast discussing state funding for universities, specifically discussing how taxpayer funding has not kept tuition low, but rather that colleges have raised prices…

Media

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Education

Do School Districts have to Raise Property Taxes?

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • March 25, 2011

Following Gov. Corbett’s budget, school district officials and the tax-and-spend lobby have cried that cuts to state education spending will force schools to increase property taxes.  Yet this ignores several…

Media

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Education

The Bubble Bursts at Penn State

  • Charles Mitchell
  • March 24, 2011

The story is told that when someone asked John D. Rockefeller how much money is enough, he responded, "Just one dollar more."  Penn State's President, Graham Spanier, like most college…

Commentary

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Regulation

PLCB’s Real Agenda

  • March 23, 2011

Last month, we exposed the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board’s alternative to liquor store privatization scheme, which is making headlines today after the Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on Tuesday.

Media

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Health Care

Still Learning “What’s in the Bill”

  • Nathan Benefield
  • March 22, 2011

My brother sent me the following text message while at his local pharmacy: Just realized that OTC [over-the-counter] drugs are no longer covered by HSA thanks to Obama. I…

Media

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Education

Parents Mustn’t Fall for Penn State Claims

  • Charles Mitchell
  • March 21, 2011

In an op-ed in Sunday’s Harrisburg Patriot-News, Penn State President Graham Spanier repeated his now-familiar claims that his institution must receive more from taxpayers than the $165 million…

Media

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Education

On Penn State and Lasagna

  • Charles Mitchell
  • March 18, 2011

The news that Penn State’s trustees just froze new building projects brings lasagna to mind. The reason is that right after my wife and I returned from the hospital…

Media

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Taxes & Economy

Michael Mann at the Zoo

  • March 18, 2011

I’ve got a piece up today at American Spectator which reveals the latest two taxpayer-funded projects that Penn State Climategate scientist Michael Mann has added to his…

Media

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Education

Hope for University Administrators, or Taxpayers?

  • Charles Mitchell
  • March 18, 2011

Tracie Mauriello of the Post-Gazette has a story today with the headline “Legislators offer hope to university administrators.”  There, she quotes several state senators who say they hope to…

Media

Read More: Hope for University Administrators, or Taxpayers?