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Government Accountability
Pa. Supreme Court Protects Private Property in New Ruling
Harrisburg, Pa., July 22, 2026 — In a 7–0 unanimous decision, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, in Punxsutawney Hunting Club v. Pennsylvania Game Commission, sided with Pennsylvania landowners and ruled against warrantless searches on open fields. Under previous case law, the open…
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Education
Commonwealth Foundation Releases Analysis on 2026-27 Budget Deal
Read More: Commonwealth Foundation Releases Analysis on 2026-27 Budget Deal
Education
Pa. Lawmakers Pass 2026-27 State Budget, Blocking Shapiro’s Tax Hikes and Preserving Emergency Savings
Read More: Pa. Lawmakers Pass 2026-27 State Budget, Blocking Shapiro’s Tax Hikes and Preserving Emergency Savings
Education
Commonwealth Foundation Applauds Senate Republicans for Advancing Tax Relief and Expanding Educational Opportunity
Read More: Commonwealth Foundation Applauds Senate Republicans for Advancing Tax Relief and Expanding Educational Opportunity
Pension Payment Update
Update on the coming pension spike from the mid-year briefing report (page 103). Click on image for larger version.
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College affordability
Richard Vedder and the Center for College Affordability and Productivity have a new short report on the cost of college and state spending on higher education. Among the…
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52,000 New K-8 Students, 42,500 New K-8 Teachers.
Education Intelligence Agency Communique on the discrepancy between school enrollment and school hires: The National Education Association today released its annual report, Rankings and Estimates: Rankings of the…
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Read More: 52,000 New K-8 Students, 42,500 New K-8 Teachers.
E-mails show how Dems tied staffers’ bonuses to campaign work
Dennis Roddy and Tracie Mauriello have a detailed account of BonusGate among the House Democrats in the Post-Gazette, including analysis of several incriminating emails they obtained.
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Following Feds letter Gov Rendell says he prefers lease of Turnpike to tolling of PA/I-80
Toll Roads News on the recent communication from the Federal Highway Administration to the PA Turnpike Commission. The last line of the article says it all: “No amount of…
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Read More: Following Feds letter Gov Rendell says he prefers lease of Turnpike to tolling of PA/I-80
Turnpike CEO’s spin on I-80 tolling
Following the return of the PennDOT-PTC bid to toll I-80 (See our news release here), Turnpike CEO Brimmeier is in full spin mode. From the Post-Gazette:…
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GOP gets on The BOX
House Democratic Majority Leader Bill DeWeese spent some time on The BOX Program with Matt last weekend. Now Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati and House Republican…
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The Gospel of Paul
Wall Street Journal’s Kimberley Strassell on the lessons of Ron Paul. Take note: “Compassionate conservatism” was a smart move on George W. Bush’s part, maybe even…
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REJECTED: Application to Toll I-80
Federal government sends Turnpike proposal to tax I-80 drivers back to the drawing board HARRISBURG, PA — Today, in response to the federal government’s rejection of plans to…
Press Release
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Feds Decline I-80 Toll Application (Told you so)
The FHWA has declined the state’s application to toll I-80. Paul Nussbuam in the Inquirer reports: Pennsylvania is seeking authority to toll I-80 under a federal pilot program…
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Taxpayer money for soccer?
Its looking more likely that taxpayers will buy a new soccer stadium. Paris Hilton Gov. Rendell, who never has enough money to hand out: “It seems to me there…
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Pa. Senate approves “Rendell Lite”
With an easy 44-5 vote, the PA Senate approved spending $650M over 10 years on alternative energy. With this vote, Senate Republicans have drawn a line in the sand:…
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The Freshman Earmarkers
I’ve heard of the “freshmen fifteen”, but how about the freshmen $70 million? The six freshmen members of congress who have delivered the most in “earmarks” all hail from PA,…
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Turnpike Bond Attorney defends Turnpike Bonding
The Patriot News ran Tim Carson’s defense of Act 44 today. I pointed out his six inaccurate claims in an earlier blog post, including the hilarious knee-slapper “I…
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Congressman wants probe of Fumo link to I-80 toll bid
Congressman Peterson has asked the Inspector General at US DOT to look into the Sen. Fumo-Turnpike Commission connection, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Apparently he thinks that when an indicted…
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Read More: Congressman wants probe of Fumo link to I-80 toll bid
A Health-Insurance Solution
Merrill Matthews in the Wall Street Journal on John Shadegg’s Congressional proposal to allow individuals to purchase health insurance from any state. He uses the example of New Jersey…
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Descendant of Davy Crockett, 5, kills bear
Unbelievable news story of the day from ESPN…
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Read More: Descendant of Davy Crockett, 5, kills bear
Legislators Seek ‘Accountability’ For Cyber Charters
Article in today’s Evening Bulletin on the battle over cyber schools. Karen Beyer claims that “school choice proponents have paid lobbyists a sizeable amount to argue against HB 446:…
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More I-80 Tolling Opposition
Another letter from state lawmakers to US Transportation Secretary Mary Peters on I-80 tolling. This one from the “I-80 House Coalition” – twelve Republican House members with I-80 running…
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Read More: More I-80 Tolling Opposition
Supreme Court Fight Club
The state Supreme Court ruled yesterday that a grand jury could continue investigate Louis DeNaples, owner of Mount Airy Casino. Of course, John Baer broke this story over…
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Calendar Update
Our first batch of Capitol Calendars for Property Tax Relief are now for sale on eBay.(Click here for details). The latest Democracy Rising newsletter features a…
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