Media

Regulation

Liquor Privatization: Time to Push Again

• Andrew Abramczyk
• June 13, 2019

A Pennsylvania grocery or convenience store can be a confusing place. Out-of-state visitors are puzzled when they first encounter separate checkout lines for alcohol and non-alcoholic items. Last-minute party planners…

Media

Education

Magic 8 Ball, What Lies Ahead for HB 800?

• Colleen Hroncich
• June 13, 2019

I asked my Magic 8 Ball if Gov. Wolf would sign HB 800—legislation increasing the caps on the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) program. “My sources say no,” was the unfortunate…

Media

Education

Helping Kids Through EITC and OSTC

• Andrew Abramczyk, Nathan Benefield
• June 12, 2019

Governor Tom Wolf wants to be sure that children from poor parts of the state can get a good education. In his 2018 budget address he called…

Media

Education

Champions for Pa. Students

• Marc LeBlond
• June 12, 2019

Yesterday the Senate took bold, swift action on behalf of Pennsylvania kids by passing HB 800—which would increase the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) K-12 tax credit scholarship cap by…

Media

Education

Fiscal Forgetfulness

• Andrew Abramczyk
• June 12, 2019

Next year the governor wants to spend $1.4 billion more than he requested for this year, according to his recent budget proposal. Separately he’ll need as much as $750 million…

Media

Education

Momentous School Choice Expansion Lands on Gov. Wolf’s Desk

• June 11, 2019

June 11, 2019, Harrisburg, Pa.—Today, the Pennsylvania Senate passed HB 800, which would expand a hugely popular K-12 scholarship program, giving Governor Wolf the chance to provide a lifeline to…

Press Release

Criminal Justice Reform

Corrections Reform for Safer Communities

• Jessica Barnett
• June 11, 2019

Nowadays, Republicans and Democrats struggle to find common ground. In the rare moments when they do, you can be sure you’ve got a winning policy. Last week, the Pennsylvania Senate…

Media

Education

Is School Choice the Black Choice?

• Marc LeBlond
• June 11, 2019

  Do you know that 49 percent of the kids who applied for tax credit scholarships in Pennsylvania were denied? Lenny McAllister Parents, educators, and education reformers…

Media

Locked by district

• June 10, 2019

The thought of someone stalking your child is terrifying. The thought of that person working for the state is beyond thinkable. School districts are hiring private investigators to follow kids…

Media

Taxes & Economy

The Truth About Wages

• Elizabeth Stelle
• June 7, 2019

There is one undoubted truth in debates about wages: everyone wants them to go up. Unfortunately, lawmakers can’t force everyone’s wage to increase, unless they are willing to destroy tens…

Media

Education

Thousands of Scholarship Applications Denied, Again

• Marc LeBlond
• June 6, 2019

Pennsylvania's tax credit scholarship programs, EITC (Education Improvement Tax Credit) and OSTC (Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit), have transformed the lives of hundreds of thousands of students with a private education that…

Media

Government Accountability

The Shadow Budget Comes to Light

• Elizabeth Stelle, Tirzah Duren
• June 6, 2019

The shadow budget is coming into the light in an unlikely way this…

Media

Pa. Senate Passes Momentous Criminal Justice Reform Package

• June 5, 2019

June 5, 2019, Harrisburg, Pa.—Today, in a unanimous vote, the Pennsylvania Senate continued the state’s national leadership on criminal justice reform by passing a three-bill reform package. These critical reforms…

Press Release

Senate Committees Pass State Spending Limits & School Choice Bills

• June 5, 2019

June 5, 2019, Harrisburg, Pa.—Today, the state Senate advanced two transformative bills: SB 116, known as the Taxpayer Protection Act, limits state spending growth to a rate Pennsylvanians can…

Press Release

Government Accountability

Transparency Deferred During Union Contract Negotiations

• Jessica Barnett
• June 3, 2019

Public dollars, secrecy, and politics should never mix. Yet, it’s a disturbingly common practice in Pennsylvania as public officials negotiate costly government employee contracts with their campaign donors—behind closed…

Media

State Budget

Harrisburg’s Notoriously Big Choice

• Tirzah Duren
• June 3, 2019

“More money, more problems.” It seems that Pennsylvania lawmakers and The Notorious B.I.G. may have found some common ground. Surplus revenues have been a hot topic since the Independent Fiscal…

Media

Education

Safer Public Schools: Another Benefit of Education Choice

• Marc LeBlond
• May 28, 2019

When parents are forced to choose between safety and academics, parents overwhelmingly choose safety. That's a choice no parent should have to make, but that's the reality for Philadelphia families…

Media

State Budget

High Taxes Are Driving Pa.’s ‘Brain Drain’

• Tirzah Duren
• May 28, 2019

If life is a highway, then Pennsylvanians are using it to drive to other states.   This is especially true for young Pennsylvanians…

Media

Public Union Democracy

Employee Rights Notification Becomes Imperative Following New Court Ruling

• Jessica Barnett
• May 23, 2019

Laws contradicting U.S. Supreme Court decisions should be removed from the books, or at least that’s what Pennsylvania teachers Greg Hartnett, Elizabeth Galaska, Rob Brough, and John Cress rationally argued…

Media

State Budget

Federal Tax Reform: A Pennsylvania Gold Rush

• Tirzah Duren
• May 23, 2019

After centuries of hopeless panning and prospecting, gold has finally been discovered right here in Harrisburg. The historic find weighs in…

Media

Criminal Justice Reform

Up, Up, and Away: Snapshots from Wolf’s Budget

• May 21, 2019

Soon lawmakers in Harrisburg will begin debating the 2019-2020 budget and what to do with excess revenue from the booming economy. Here’s your two-minute summary of the budget situation and…

Media