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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
Too Much Spending or Not Enough Taxes?
Chart-master Veronique de Rugy sums up the debate over extending the tax cuts and federal deficits in a simple chart. The dominant blue bar represents the mind-boggling $42 trillion…
Media
Read More: Too Much Spending or Not Enough Taxes?Government Accountability
More Taxpayer-Funded Lobbying for Higher Taxes
I have highlighted the taxpayer funded propaganda in the guise of a “newsletter,” titled the Marcellus Shale Examiner, before. The latest newsletter, which leads with Gov. Rendell’s “We…
Media
Read More: More Taxpayer-Funded Lobbying for Higher Taxes
Spending Revolt bus rolls into Scranton with anti-government message
Media Hit
Read More: Spending Revolt bus rolls into Scranton with anti-government message
Whether Tom Corbett or Dan Onorato is next Pennsylvania governor, homeowners can expect higher property taxes
Media Hit
Read More: Whether Tom Corbett or Dan Onorato is next Pennsylvania governor, homeowners can expect higher property taxes
Spending Revolt Tour: Day 3 Update
Day two of Spending Revolt took us to Connellsville, where I spoke with Peter Thande, a young man from Kenya who will become a U.S. citizen in 2011. He turned…
Media
Read More: Spending Revolt Tour: Day 3 Update
Former PA House Speaker Bob O’Donnell Joins Commonwealth Foundation
HARRISBURG, PA — The Commonwealth Foundation is pleased to announce that former Democratic Pennsylvania House Speaker Robert W. O’Donnell has joined its Center for Educational Excellence as a senior fellow.
Press Release
Read More: Former PA House Speaker Bob O’Donnell Joins Commonwealth FoundationTaxes & Economy
We are All Fiscal Conservatives Now
My remarks at PA Liberty Conference I’ll start with a question I often get…or at least a question that is often proffered to no one in particular, that I…
Media
Read More: We are All Fiscal Conservatives Now
Spending Revolt bus makes stop in Fayette County
Media Hit
Read More: Spending Revolt bus makes stop in Fayette County
Pa. should emulate Delaware, not Calif.
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Read More: Pa. should emulate Delaware, not Calif.Regulation
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
Read More: Unintended Consequences of the Bulb Ban
Spending Revolt Tour: Day 2 Update
Day one of the Spending Revolt bus tour was a big success, with citizens of all ages turning out to greet the bus and demand fiscal restraint from our…
Media
Read More: Spending Revolt Tour: Day 2 UpdateTaxes & Economy
Lawmakers Should Read ALL Commonwealth Foundation Research
In a recent op-ed, Sen. Scarnati and Sen. Pileggi defended the Senate’s recent actions after a Lincoln Institute column described them as “leftist”. While the Senators cite CF’s research…
Media
Read More: Lawmakers Should Read ALL Commonwealth Foundation ResearchRegulation
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
Read More: Pennsylvania Needs True Pension ReformTaxes & Economy
Spending Revolt Tour: Day 1 Update
Day one of the Pennsylvania leg of the National Spending Revolt bus tour kicked off this morning in Erie. The weather, appropriately enough, is gloomy and gray—rather fitting, given…
Media
Read More: Spending Revolt Tour: Day 1 UpdateRegulation
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 ReformEducation
Auditor General Hits the Wrong Target
Here is a note I sent to Pennsylvania Auditor General Jack Wagner regarding his call for a moratorium on new charter schools until the funding mechanism is “fixed”:…
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Read More: Auditor General Hits the Wrong TargetHealth Care
ObamaCare will Dramatically Increase Medicaid Costs in PA
A reader asked us what kind of effect ObamaCare would have on Medicaid costs in Pennsylvania. We’ve put together some numbers, and it’s not pretty. First of all, even without…
Media
Read More: ObamaCare will Dramatically Increase Medicaid Costs in PATaxes & Economy
Immigration Verification and Welfare Fraud
Thank you for allowing the Commonwealth Foundation for Public Policy Alternatives, a non-partisan educational institute based in Harrisburg, to submit written testimony concerning HB 1359, which would require proof of…
Testimony
Read More: Immigration Verification and Welfare Fraud