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Taxes & Economy

Facts Refute Gov. Wolf’s Climate Change Concern

• Gordon Tomb
• December 17, 2018

Editor's Note: A version of this blog was also published in the Daily Caller and appeared at NaturalGasNow.org. When Gov. Wolf uses the past…

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Health Care

Pursuing Permanent Poverty Solutions: 2018-17 Welfare & Health Care Reforms

• Elizabeth Stelle
• December 13, 2018

Today, we continue our recap of the 2017-18 legislature by looking at the largest and most poorly understood aspect of state government, welfare and health care. Human services spending amounts…

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Public Union Democracy

Three Ways Lawmakers are Expanding Worker Rights

• Jessica Barnett
• December 13, 2018

Over the last two years, Pennsylvania lawmakers have taken great effort to improve our state’s labor laws to protect workers’ basic rights. However, as brave public servants like Greg Hartnett, an…

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Taxes & Economy

Bureaucrats are Keeping Pennsylvanians Dependent on Food Stamps

• Elizabeth Stelle
• December 13, 2018

Great things are happening in our economy, including more job opportunities and rising incomes. Yet, Pennsylvania is continuing to see near-record food stamp enrollment. The Census Bureau's newly-released American…

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Education

Gesu School: Education Choice in Action – Part I

• Marc LeBlond
• December 12, 2018

Drive down Schuylkill Expressway, exit 342 past the Philadelphia Zoo, across the Girard Bridge—eventually you’ll arrive in North Philly, home of Gesu School. The surrounding neighborhood has all the…

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State Budget

Budget Outlook: Restrained Spending Growth

• Nathan Benefield
• December 12, 2018

On Tuesday, Budget Secretary Randy Albright gave the mid-year budget briefing (slides available here) for the 2018-19 budget. If you’re expecting a repeat of the Wolf Administration’s tax-and-spend rhetoric…

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Taxes & Economy

Will Carbon Taxes Bring Paris Protests to Pa?

• Gordon Tomb
• December 11, 2018

“Nothing reveals the disconnect between ordinary voters and an aloof political class more than carbon taxation,” write the editors of the Wall Street Journal. As French “yellow vest”…

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Public Union Democracy

Union Leaders: Resignation Denied

• Jessica Barnett
• December 11, 2018

William Neely is a psychiatric aide in Berks County and a 15-year union member. Mr. Neely felt his union leaders, AFSCME 13, no longer represented his interests, and attempted to resign…

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Government Accountability

Union Leaders Lied, Now Members Sue

• Jessica Barnett
• December 10, 2018

Unions should represent employees, not work against their own members’ interests. Yet, that’s exactly what happened to public sector workers in Erie—and some are pushing back. During closed-door negotiation…

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Education

Education Spending 2017-18: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

• Marc LeBlond
• December 7, 2018

In early 2017, Rep. Dave Reed acknowledged the importance of education spending to everything the General Assembly tackles: We have an amazing opportunity. … We get to…

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Health Care

Four Ways Pa. Lawmakers Can Reduce the Cost of Health Care

• Elizabeth Stelle
• December 6, 2018

Bureaucracy just makes things worse. Case in point: Obamacare. Pennsylvanians have faced soaring health care costs and far fewer options ever since the law was passed.   Thankfully, a…

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Regulation

Just Say No To Corporate Welfare

• December 4, 2018

“We prefer the term ‘corporate welfare.’” Elizabeth Stelle, CF’s Director of Policy Analysis, recently appeared on the KD/PG Sunday Edition to discuss the GM bailout, Amazon’s HQ2 forgoing Pennsylvania, and…

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Regulation

Our Christmas Wish: A Solvent Pennsylvania

• Gordon Tomb
• December 4, 2018

“I’m dreaming of a solvent Penn’s Woods/Just like the one we used to know.” Lyrics not worthy of Bing Crosby, but still music to the ears of a…

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Health Care

Welfare Program Restarts with No Proof of Poverty Alleviation & No Budget

• Elizabeth Stelle
• December 3, 2018

After a six-year hiatus, Pennsylvania's General Assistance program is back in operation…without a budget. The Wolf administration's unilateral decision to resurrect a program, without identifying a funding source, is symbolic…

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Regulation

Turnpike Toll Hikes Highlight Missed Opportunities

• Elizabeth Stelle, Nathan Benefield
• November 30, 2018

There are three things Pennsylvanians have learned to count on: death, taxes, and Turnpike toll hikes. On January 6th, the state toll road will increase rates by another 6…

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Education

School Choice Progress in PA 2017-18

• Colleen Hroncich
• November 29, 2018

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. This African saying, attributed by some to Desmond Tutu, has been successfully employed by school choice advocates in…

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Regulation

Harsh Conditions Continue: Pennsylvania’s 2017-18 Business Climate

• Elizabeth Stelle
• November 28, 2018

After the recent decision by Amazon not to put an HQ2 location in Pennsylvania, business owners and taxpayers all across the state are asking the same questions: What barriers…

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State Budget

2017-18 State Budget & Spending Trends

• Elizabeth Stelle
• November 26, 2018

Over the next month, CF will recount what happened on major issues in the 2017-18 legislative session and what policies lawmakers need to prioritize in the 2019-20 session to make…

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Education

Teacher shortage? Try competition.

• Colleen Hroncich
• November 25, 2018

Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to … tinker with markets. That isn’t the original ending to that sentence, but it is certainly accurate. There…

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A Policy Feast to be Thankful For

• Nathan Benefield
• November 21, 2018

If public policy was for Thanksgiving dinner, what should be on the menu? It’s an unusual question, but while I’m looking forward to a nice Thanksgiving meal, I’m also looking…

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We’re Thankful For…

• November 21, 2018

This Thanksgiving we have so much to be thankful for. We are grateful to call Pennsylvania home, grateful for our growing team, and incredibly grateful for our investors and supporters.

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