Regulation
Harris’s Price Controls Ignore Basic Economics
Originally published at Delaware Valley Journal Vice President Kamala Harris wants to make groceries cheaper. However, her vague proposal to ban “price gouging” will have the opposite effect. Economists,…
Read More: Harris’s Price Controls Ignore Basic EconomicsEvery 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.
Related Issues
State Budget
CF Applauds Pa. Senate Budget Use of TPA Index
HARRISBURG, PA (05.08.12) – The Commonwealth Foundation applauded Pennsylvania Senate leadership today for using the Taxpayer Protection Act index – inflation plus population growth – to compose their fiscal year 2012-13…
Press Release
Read More: CF Applauds Pa. Senate Budget Use of TPA IndexState Budget
Why Pennsylvania Needs Spending Limits
In a Capitolwire story (subscription), Senate Appropriations Chair Jake Corman notes that the proposed version of the state budget the Senate will take up this week increases spending by…
Media
Read More: Why Pennsylvania Needs Spending LimitsCriminal Justice Reform
Correcting Corrections Correctly
Over the last 30 years, Pennsylvania’s incarceration rate has increased by 500 percent and corrections spending has skyrocketed 1,700 percent. The unprecedented prison population growth at unsustainable costs…
Media
Read More: Correcting Corrections CorrectlyState Budget
This is the Change You’ve Been Looking For
I had the opportunity to hear Scott Rasmussen speak last week. The theme of his speech was “change”—as in how policy change happens. The lesson he gave was that policy…
Media
Read More: This is the Change You’ve Been Looking ForGovernment Accountability
Liquor’s Lap of Luxury a Laughingstock
With grand style on your dime, the ponderous Princes of Pinot are noses and palms up choosing what wine and liquor you will and will not consume in the Keystone…
Media
Read More: Liquor’s Lap of Luxury a LaughingstockCriminal Justice Reform
HOPE for PA Corrections Reform
Launched in 2004, Hawaii’s Opportunity Probation with Enforcement (HOPE) is an innovative supervision strategy that provides swift, predictable sanctions on substance-abusing probationers. Research shows the program has reduced probationers’ positive…
Media
Read More: HOPE for PA Corrections ReformRegulation
Reform Bills Would Begin to Reduce Fiscal Fire
While the fiscal fire is raging across Pennsylvania, Rep. Eli Evankovich’s pension reform proposal begins to extinguish the flames that threaten to consume the commonwealth. We’ve been on record…
Media
Read More: Reform Bills Would Begin to Reduce Fiscal FireState Budget
Good April Tax Collections, but State is Spending More Than Revenue
Two new reports show that Pennsylvania’s fiscal crunch for the current year is not a dire as previously thought. Pa. Department of Revenue monthly reports on tax collections shows…
Media
Read More: Good April Tax Collections, but State is Spending More Than RevenueRegulation
The Fight for Liquor Liberty Continues
The fight to free Pennsylvanians’ drinks from government control is far from over, according to House Majority Leader Mike Turzai. Rep. Turzai is expected to give a much needed…
Media
Read More: The Fight for Liquor Liberty ContinuesRegulation
States Tap Public-Private Partnerships in 2011
Public-private partnerships aren’t just for roads anymore. Reason’s Annual Privatization Report, released this week, is packed with diverse examples of states leveraging the private sector to stretch tax dollars. In California,…
Media
Read More: States Tap Public-Private Partnerships in 2011State Budget
GAO Sounds the Fiscal Alarm on State Medicaid Costs
The U.S. Government Accountability Office has a new report on state and local government finances. Of greatest concern are the expected increases in Medicaid spending and health care for…
Media
Read More: GAO Sounds the Fiscal Alarm on State Medicaid CostsTaxes & Economy
Feds Tackling Long-Term Unemployment Georgia Style
The Federal Government is taking a page from the Peach State and looking for 10 states to participate in a new unemployment program modeled off of “Georgia Works.” The program…
Media
Read More: Feds Tackling Long-Term Unemployment Georgia StyleTaxes & Economy
What Does the Primary Earthquake Mean?
I’m writing to you from Pittsburgh, which was, in a certain sense, ground zero of last night’s primary earthquake. Last night, I watched Tom Smith—who has made it a matter…
Media
Read More: What Does the Primary Earthquake Mean?Criminal Justice Reform
Unprecedented Prison Population Growth
This is the first installment in a three-part series that will look at Pennsylvania’s correctional system, public policies that have worked in other states, and provide a blueprint to bring…
Media
Read More: Unprecedented Prison Population GrowthEducation
Chart of the Day: Pennsylvania School Revenue per Student
Critics of state spending cuts claim there is a lack of funding for public schools. But from the 1995-96 school year through 2009-10 (the latest year with data available…
Media
Read More: Chart of the Day: Pennsylvania School Revenue per StudentRegulation
Wizards of Whine Crying Fowl
Call me Ostrich, a ruffed grouse or anything you like, Mr. Conti, but don’t call me and nearly 70 percent of Pennsylvanians satisfied with the PLCB’s iron-fisted…
Media
Read More: Wizards of Whine Crying FowlGovernment Accountability
Veterans: Let’s Do It For Them – VOTE!
Why should you vote in the upcoming elections? Hear from three generations of combat veterans, all from the same Pennsylvania hometown, who speak of the selfless sacrifice of our…
Media
Read More: Veterans: Let’s Do It For Them – VOTE!Taxes & Economy
The Facts about Fracking and Physicians
Yesterday’s statement by the Pennsylvania Medical Society President Marilyn Heine should put to rest the recent panic over a provision in Act 13—the newly enacted Marcellus Shale legislation…
Media
Read More: The Facts about Fracking and PhysiciansTaxes & Economy
Today We Celebrate PA’s Tax Freedom Day
You might have thought Tax Freedom Day was April 17—the last day to file your taxes—but for Pennsylvania, it’s really today, April 18. Tax Freedom Day is calculated…
Media
Read More: Today We Celebrate PA’s Tax Freedom DayPublic Union Democracy
Union Party Speaks: Defend Union Agenda
We’ve mentioned many times that the real party controlling the Pennsylvania legislature is not the Republican Party, but rather the Union Party. Today, in a story by the Pittsburgh…
Media
Read More: Union Party Speaks: Defend Union AgendaHealth Care
Medicaid Flexibility: The Key to a Sustainable Safety Net
As we inch towards the state budget deadline, welfare spending reductions in Pennsylvania continue to be contentious. The reductions that are proposed concentrate on 20 percent of spending, since…
Media
Read More: Medicaid Flexibility: The Key to a Sustainable Safety Net