Regulation
Cutting Red Tape in Pennsylvania
This report presents findings from Mercatus Center’s State RegData database, analyzing regulations in the Pennsylvania Code as of 2022. The report provides an overview of state regulations, how Pennsylvania’s regulatory…
Read More: Cutting Red Tape in PennsylvaniaPennsylvania’s notoriously high level of regulation is a burden on our state economy. To make the Keystone State a competitive place to live, work, or grow a business, reforms are needed to rein in the regulatory process. Taxpayers deserve a streamlined regulatory process that scrutinizes proposed regulations to ensure frivolous reforms do not overburden the state economy and do not prevent job-seekers from accessing employment.
Regulation
The New Food Justice Agenda
The food police are coming to Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania State Board of Education is considering new nutrition guidelines for events at public schools, which would mean the end…
Media
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Pileggi Ignores Support for Real Pension Reform
Here is a letter I sent to the West Chester Daily Local, responding to a piece by state Sen. Dominic Pileggi, which argues for passing a flawed pension bill now,…
Media
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Corbett’s Challenge
As Tom Corbett prepares for his move into the Pennsylvania Governor's Mansion, he must be realizing the magnitude of what he is about to undertake: the governorship of a state…
Commentary
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Defending State Pensions with Misinformation
A guest editorial in the Philadelphia Inquirer defends HB2497—the pension deferral plan, by mischaracterizing its impact on the taxpayers and the economy. One myth is that a defined-benefit plan…
Media
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Union Pension Bailout & Generational Theft
Pennsylvania's largest public pension plans—Public School Employees Retirement System (PSERS) and State Employees Retirement System (SERS)—are severely underfunded. But instead of reforming the defined-benefit pension system and paying down these…
Fact Sheet
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It’s Never Sunny for Philadelphia’s Small Businesses
The Institute for Justice (IJ), in its new report, No Brotherly Love for Entrepreneurs, depicts just how bad the small business climate in Philadelphia has become. The city has…
Media
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Time to End Public Sector Indentured Servitude
Public service is one of the few places where one still can find a defined benefit pot of gold at the end of their employment. Although defined benefit pensions are…
Commentary
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Cities and their Bankrupt Pension Plans
A recent study, published by Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, found shocking statistics about the solvency of most city and state pension funds. The total unfunded pension liability for…
Media
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Not-so-Effective Tax Credit Programs
The Legislative Budget and Finance Committee issued a new report on the utilization and accountability of Pennsylvania’s tax credit programs. The report looks at everything from the Research and…
Media
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Harrisburg’s Woes: Coming to a City Near You
Gov. Rendell's recent state bailout of the city of Harrisburg has brought attention to the capital city's fiscal mismanagement. With millions in debt payments and an enormous pension obligation, Harrisburg's…
Commentary
Read More: Harrisburg’s Woes: Coming to a City Near YouRegulation
Federal Cash for State Budget Cuts?
In an Investors Business Daily piece this summer, Nicole Gelinas puts forward an interesting idea about how to stimulate the economy, and at the same time cut back on…
Media
Read More: Federal Cash for State Budget Cuts?Regulation
Recap of the Pennsylvania Senate’s Busy Week
The PA State Senate had a busy week, all leading up to some key votes that took place yesterday. We have been closely following several bills and unfortunately a…
Media
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RAMPing Up PA Liquor Control Board’s Monopoly Power
The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, the largest supplier of alcohol in the world, recently enacted regulations to become the sole provider of its now-mandated educational program for Pennsylvania businesses, the…
Media
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Why Not A Defined Contribution Retirement Plan for Public Employees?
In a Capitolwire story about the Pennsylvania pension “reform” bill that would primarily defer costs to the future, Sen. Pat Browne says, We tried to go as…
Media
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How HB 2497 Costs Taxpayers $67 Billion
A supporter writes, saying he called his state Senator about HB 2497, and the lawmaker told him the bill would “save money.” As we’ve…
Media
Read More: How HB 2497 Costs Taxpayers $67 BillionRegulation
Commonwealth Foundation President Calls Pension Reform “Bailout for Union Bosses”
HARRISBURG, PA (10.12.10) – Commonwealth Foundation president and CEO Matthew J. Brouillette released the following statement regarding HB 2497 — the so-called SERS & PSERS pension reform legislation currently before…
Press Release
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Unintended Consequences of the Bulb Ban
The national phase-out of incandescent light bulbs begins in 2012, and by 2014, incandescents will be history. The popular replacement is the compact-fluorescent light (CFL), but there are very…
Media
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Pennsylvania Needs True Pension Reform
The state pension time bomb is taking front stage again in the waning days of the 2009-2010 legislative session. The Senate is revisiting HB 2497—the $27 billion pension deferral…
Press Release
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Senate Must Insist on Real Pension Reform
The state pension time bomb is taking front stage again in the waning days of the 2009-2010 legislative session. The Senate is revisiting HB 2497—the $27 billion pension deferral…
Media
Read More: Senate Must Insist on Real Pension ReformRegulation
Hey Big Spender
Yesterday, Gov. Rendell held a press conference to make note that Tom Corbett was overstating the amount of Pennsylvania taxpayer money Rendell was wasting on pork-barrel projects. Examples cited…
Media
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The Only Way to Fix Public Pensions
The Baltimore Sun editorializes that the only way to fix the pension plan for state workers (in Maryland, though the same would hold true in Pennsylvania) is to move…
Media
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