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Education
Public Schools Increased Spending to $23,000 Per Student, Ballooned Reserves While Enrollment Declined
Harrisburg, Pa., May 15, 2025 — Pennsylvania school districts increased overall revenue collected in 2023–24 to $23,000 per student, while expanding general fund reserves to $7.4 billion, according to new…
Read More: Public Schools Increased Spending to $23,000 Per Student, Ballooned Reserves While Enrollment Declined
Energy
Pennsylvania Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments on RGGI
Read More: Pennsylvania Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments on RGGI
Education
Senate Education Committee Approves Bipartisan PASS Scholarships, Offering Lifeline to Students in Need
Read More: Senate Education Committee Approves Bipartisan PASS Scholarships, Offering Lifeline to Students in Need
Prosperity
New Report: Gig-Workers Prefer Flexibility of Portable Benefits
Read More: New Report: Gig-Workers Prefer Flexibility of Portable BenefitsTaxes & Economy
Who Wants to Pay More for Electricity?
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…
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Read More: Who Wants to Pay More for Electricity?Public Union Democracy
How Unions Put the Squeeze on Pennsylvanians
We’ve talked before about how passing meaningful reform on anything from school choice to prevailing wage has been stymied not by a Democrat vs. Republican fight in Pennsylvania’s legislature, but…
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Read More: How Unions Put the Squeeze on PennsylvaniansTaxes & Economy
Utility Rates Drop Again Thanks to Marcellus Drilling
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…
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Read More: Utility Rates Drop Again Thanks to Marcellus Drilling
PLCB Stars in Magnum P.U.!
While Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board execs have been jet setting around the globe on the taxpayer dime to Paris, Dubai, Barcelona and Argentina, their taxpayer-paid marketing team has been…
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Read More: PLCB Stars in Magnum P.U.!State Budget
Chart of the Day: Welfare Spending
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…
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Read More: Chart of the Day: Welfare Spending
State expands banned crimes for school district employees
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Read More: State expands banned crimes for school district employees
PLCB: One Bourbon, One Scotch, Two Bills
In a massive money mishap that would make Delaware Destroyer George Thorogood mad to the bone, the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board’s latest snafu comes at, not surprisingly, the customer’s expense.
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Read More: PLCB: One Bourbon, One Scotch, Two BillsState Budget
Big Government Limits Economic Growth
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…
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Read More: Big Government Limits Economic GrowthPublic Union Democracy
Pop Quiz: Would You Pay $126 or $84 for the Same Product?
Yesterday, we noted how Pennsylvania’s prevailing wage law is a “rent” for labor unions. Here’s an example of how it plays out in real life—when our schools are…
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Read More: Pop Quiz: Would You Pay $126 or $84 for the Same Product?Taxes & Economy
Pennsylvania Businesses Face the Highest Taxes
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,…
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Read More: Pennsylvania Businesses Face the Highest TaxesPublic Union Democracy
Rent Seeking: Pennsylvania’s Prevailing Wage Musical
“Rent” isn’t just a depressing musical about New Yorkers facing AIDS. It’s also a term economists use to describe the benefits special interests win for themselves in the political…
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Read More: Rent Seeking: Pennsylvania’s Prevailing Wage MusicalState Budget
5 Scary Facts about Pennsylvania’s Welfare Spending
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…
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Read More: 5 Scary Facts about Pennsylvania’s Welfare Spending
Got Freedom? PLCB Has No App for That!
Ah yes, the Merry Minions of Merlot, makers of mediocrity, mismanagement and the modish mockery of “modernization” are at it again. But instead of truly bringing us into the 21st…
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Read More: Got Freedom? PLCB Has No App for That!Education
Exposing Two Class Size Myths
The Patriot-News reports that while schools in the mid-state have laid off some employees, most districts are still below the national average student-teacher ratio of 15.1. The student-teacher ratio…
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Tobacco tax could boost Phantoms’ arena zone development
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Read More: Tobacco tax could boost Phantoms’ arena zone developmentTaxes & Economy
Pennsylvania’s Once-Great Cities
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…
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Read More: Pennsylvania’s Once-Great CitiesRegulation
Goodbye Gus, Hello Private Partnerships
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…
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Read More: Goodbye Gus, Hello Private Partnerships
Much needed repairs to the Capitol Complex to cost $55 million
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Read More: Much needed repairs to the Capitol Complex to cost $55 millionCriminal Justice Reform
Sec. John Wetzel Talks Corrections Reforms on The BOX
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…
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Read More: Sec. John Wetzel Talks Corrections Reforms on The BOX
Officials say privatizing prisons not an option in Pennsylvania
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Read More: Officials say privatizing prisons not an option in Pennsylvania
With privatization hopes bleak, LCB works to increase revenue
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Read More: With privatization hopes bleak, LCB works to increase revenue