Prosperity
New Year, New Taxes in Pennsylvania
Originally published at RealClearPennsylvania The new year is always a great opportunity to shed vices like smoking and binge eating. For state and local lawmakers, their guilty pleasure tends…
Read More: New Year, New Taxes in PennsylvaniaHigh taxes make for a slow-growing economy. And communities feel the pinch of high taxes as more and more native Pennsylvanians leave the Keystone State to prosper elsewhere. To remain economically competitive, Pennsylvania must lower state taxes and ensure businesses have the opportunity to succeed. Lower taxes will incentivize more individuals to call Pennsylvania their home, ultimately spurring our statewide economy forward.
State Budget
Chart of the Day: General Fund Spending and Revenue
Yesterday, the Pa. Senate Appropriations Committee advanced a budget (the full Senate is expected to vote on it today) that includes $27.65 billion in General Fund spending. Unfortunately, this…
Media
Read More: Chart of the Day: General Fund Spending and RevenueState 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 ForCriminal 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 RevenueState 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 StudentGovernment 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 DayHealth 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 NetRegulation
Government-run Golf a Taxpayer Double Bogey
Believe it or not, local governments, i.e., taxpayers, own 49 golf courses in Pennsylvania. One of the poorest performers is Dauphin Highlands Golf Course, owned by Dauphin County taxpayers, which…
Commentary
Read More: Government-run Golf a Taxpayer Double BogeyState Budget
State Spending Limits for Pennsylvania
Prior to 2011-12, Pennsylvania's total operating budget had increased for at least 40 consecutive years. The Taxpayer Protection Act (TPA) would force lawmakers to limit government spending during boom years,…
Fact Sheet
Read More: State Spending Limits for PennsylvaniaHealth Care
Medicaid Waivers & the Looming Fiscal Crisis
In the waning days of 2008, the state of Rhode Island secured a global waiver for its Medicaid program. The waiver exempted the state from many federal rules and mandates in exchange for a…
Media
Read More: Medicaid Waivers & the Looming Fiscal CrisisRegulation
Schools Get Property Tax Referendum Exemptions for Pension Costs
Last year, the Pennsylvania General Assembly passed, and Gov. Corbett signed, legislation reducing the number of exemptions to the school tax referendum requirement. But as noted this…
Media
Read More: Schools Get Property Tax Referendum Exemptions for Pension Costs