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Education
Commonwealth Foundation Releases Analysis on 2026-27 Budget Deal
Harrisburg, Pa., July 13, 2026 — Pennsylvania’s 2026–27 state budget deal is an “improvement over Gov. Josh Shapiro’s reckless proposal, but it still spends too much and leaves taxpayers facing an even larger long-term…
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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
Education
NEW ANALYSIS: Public School Enrollment Declines as State Spending Climbs
Read More: NEW ANALYSIS: Public School Enrollment Declines as State Spending Climbs
Turnpike Commission’s version of MiniTru
Turnpike Commission Vice-Chair and bond attorney Tim Carson in the Morning Call offers a rebuttal to the Brouillette-Gilroy Commentary. Carson’s editorial is as accurate as an Enron…
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The Tragedy of the Commons
John Stossel on the lost lesson of Thanksgiving: When the Pilgrims first settled the Plymouth Colony, they organized their farm economy along communal lines. The goal was to…
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Turnpike temerity: Stop the games!
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review editorial on the Turnpike Commission’s shenanigans.
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The Most Important Election of Our Time
What happens when there is a tie for election? Run off? Coin Flip? Supreme Court case? Duel to the death? Rock Paper Scissors? In the case of the Wormleysburg Assessors…
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Videos and Pictures from Speaker Franklin Awards Dinner
Videos from the Speaker Franklin Awards Dinner on YouTube View the Photos on Flickr…
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Read More: Videos and Pictures from Speaker Franklin Awards Dinner
A new effort on open-records bill
Bill DeWeese is planning to push an amendment to the House open records bill, which would strengthen it, making it like the Senate bill, but applying to the…
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SEC investigation into Brimmeier?
Here is a letter to SEC regional director Daniel Hawkes from Sen. Jake Corman, and the response from the SEC director. Corman questions whether or not Pennsylvania Turnpike…
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Toll criticisms mount; Better solutions exist
Editorial from the Williamsport SunGazette. No, we didn’t write it for them. 🙂 “When it comes to problem-solving, the I-80 toll proposal is the same old Pennsylvania government solution…
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Pa. puts a heavy stake on I-80 tolls
Good summary of the I-80 tolling situation and the concerns regarding federal approval – including noting that mass transit would get $150 million less if I-80 is not tolled…
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EBay sellers pushed to get auctioneer licenses
In an absurd extension of state power, the Board of Auctioneer Examiners in the State Department is trying to shut down EBay sellers (those selling on behalf on others). See…
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State Small Business Climate Ranking
The Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council released its state rankings on Policy Environment for Entrepreneurship. Pennsylvania ranks a middling 24th (1 is best). The rankings incorporate several taxes, government…
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Where do judges come from?
Paul Jacob on Townhall.com on “merit selection” of judges in Missouri. So, just who makes up the Appellate Judicial Commission? How are they chosen? Good questions. The…
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Colossal Waste of Tax Dollars for Useless Education Study
Allegheny Institute Policy Brief on the “costing out study”. To further illustrate the wrongheadedness of the study, consider its recommendation for two Southwestern Pennsylvania school districts that…
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More Resources on Costing Out Studies
Courtroom Alchemy – Education Next: We reviewed results from professional judgment studies in eight states released from 2001 to 2003. All eight studies were conducted by…
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Read More: More Resources on Costing Out Studies
State’s Debt Totals More Than $105 Billion
Evening Bulletin article on our brief analysis of state debt.
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Read More: State’s Debt Totals More Than $105 Billion
Leave commenting on PA Politics to me, Sandra Day O’Connor
Sandra Day O’Connor disses Russ Diamond in today’s Wall Street Journal, along with calling for appointing judges and government-run campaigns: These three reforms [I’ll discuss below] will help,…
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Read More: Leave commenting on PA Politics to me, Sandra Day O’Connor
Commonwealth Foundation honors Scaife’s contributions
Story in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review about the 2007 Speaker Franklin Awards Dinner.
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Costing Out Study – Quick Numbers
I haven’t had a chance to look at the “costing out study” yet, which said we need spend $12,067 per-pupil to achieve an “adequate education” but here is the key…
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Thursday at 9 PM – Speaker Franklin Awards Dinner on PCN
PCN will air the Speaker Franklin Awards dinner – including speakers John Stossel, Ed Feulner, and Award recipient Richard Mellon Scaife – Thursday night at 9 pm. Future airings are…
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Pa. House Dems force out 7 top aides
The Bonus-Gate investigation has apparently claimed the jobs of several Pa. House Democratic staffers. Bill DeWeese isn’t saying much, other than in his press release: “As Majority…
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Don’t Look to Government to Cool Down the Planet
If you can’t make it to our dinner tonight in Pittsburgh, here is just a taste of what you are missing – John Stossel’s latest column on TownHall.com.
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