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Education
Senate Education Committee Approves Bipartisan PASS Scholarships, Offering Lifeline to Students in Need
Harrisburg, Pa., May 6, 2025—Today, the Pennsylvania Senate Education Committee approved legislation to establish Pennsylvania Award for Student Success (PASS) Scholarships. Similar to the popular Lifeline Scholarship proposal, PASS would…
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 Benefits
Education
Andrew Lewis on ‘This Week in Pennsylvania’
Read More: Andrew Lewis on ‘This Week in Pennsylvania’
Prosperity
Stephen Bloom joins RJ Harris in the Morning to Talk Tax Reform
Read More: Stephen Bloom joins RJ Harris in the Morning to Talk Tax ReformTaxes & Economy
Wolf’s Severance Tax Among the Highest in the Nation
The Governor's fourth natural gas tax proposal, and 11th tax proposal overall, is now embodied in legislation. SB 1000 and HB 2253 join nine other bills sitting in the House and Senate, all…
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Read More: Wolf’s Severance Tax Among the Highest in the NationGovernment Accountability
Government that Works?in the Shadows
Legislation introduced by Rep. Seth Grove—House Bill 1843—injects a much-needed dose of transparency into the state budget. The proposal would give taxpayers access to critical budget documents and financial…
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Read More: Government that Works?in the ShadowsTaxes & Economy
Migration Update
https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2018/popest-metro-county.html The ten counties that experienced the greatest growth via domestic migration (“destination states”) had a lower average tax burden than the counties that experienced the greatest declines (“deserted states”). p 10…
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Read More: Migration UpdatePublic Union Democracy
PSU Graduate Students Reject Unionization
According to preliminary results, Penn State graduate assistants have voted to reject joining the Pennsylvania State Education Association. If the Coalition of Graduate Employees convinced a majority of voting graduate…
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Read More: PSU Graduate Students Reject UnionizationState Budget
Pa.’s Economy Continues to Underwhelm
Just how burdensome have Pennsylvania taxes and regulations become? According to the latest edition of Rich States, Poor States (RSPS), the commonwealth ranks 35th in the nation for economic performance…
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Read More: Pa.’s Economy Continues to UnderwhelmRegulation
Seize Opportunities to Transform Pennsylvania
Maximizing our state’s potential requires a willingness to break from the status quo and find better ways to govern. Several improvements indicate Pennsylvania is moving in this direction, such…
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Read More: Seize Opportunities to Transform PennsylvaniaEducation
Students Harmed when Scholarships are Politicized
Bill Blum, Director of Finance at Kennedy Catholic High School (KCHS) in Hermitage, witnesses the power of education choice every day. But he’s also seen the suffering caused when these…
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Read More: Students Harmed when Scholarships are PoliticizedEducation
Teacher Strike Capitol of America
Pennsylvania is the teacher strike capital of America. Since 1999, Pennsylvania families have suffered through 131 strikes, affecting 300,000 students and causing 1,383 missed school days. This research, including county,…
Press Release
Read More: Teacher Strike Capitol of AmericaHealth Care
Welfare Reform is Sweeping the Nation
“Right now, America combines near-record-low unemployment with near-record-high welfare dependency — the result of state-level eligibility exemptions, federal loopholes and policies that put work on the back burner.” Those are…
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Read More: Welfare Reform is Sweeping the NationEducation
Answering Questions About ESAs
Education Savings Accounts (ESA) allow parents to customize and personalize their child's education. With an ESA, parents withdraw their child from the local public school and instead receive money from…
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The Dignity of Work in Rural Pennsylvania
The Brockway Center for Arts and Technology (BCAT) is only five years old, but it has helped over 100 unemployed and underemployed Pennsylvanians find fulfilling and family-sustaining healthcare careers.
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Read More: The Dignity of Work in Rural PennsylvaniaRegulation
Solving Pa.’s Corporate Welfare Problem is Key to Tax Reform
Gov. Wolf’s budget proposal projects a small reduction in corporate welfare spending. When compared to the current budget, spending would decline by more than $26 million. However,…
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Read More: Solving Pa.’s Corporate Welfare Problem is Key to Tax ReformTaxes & Economy
House Passes Work-Promoting Medicaid Reform
Today, the state House passed legislation, HB 2138, promoting independence among healthy, adult Medicaid recipients by requiring them to find part-time work or engage in job training to continue receiving…
Press Release
Read More: House Passes Work-Promoting Medicaid ReformPublic Union Democracy
4 Facts on Pennsylvania Teacher Strikes
Between the nearly averted strike in Pittsburgh and statewide strikes in West Virginia and Oklahoma, the validity of teacher strikes is once again up for debate. Here are four facts…
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Read More: 4 Facts on Pennsylvania Teacher StrikesRegulation
Pull the Reins on Horse Racing Subsidies
A horse is a horse, of course, of course, unless it's a Pennsylvania racehorse—then it's the symbol of government waste and an industry in decline. (Is that how this…
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Read More: Pull the Reins on Horse Racing SubsidiesState Budget
People Everywhere Just Want to Be Free (Of Taxes)
Pennsylvanians work nearly four months a year just to pay the taxes imposed at the various levels of government. This is just one of the many findings in the Tax…
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Read More: People Everywhere Just Want to Be Free (Of Taxes)Health Care
House Takes Step Towards Transformative Welfare Reform
Lawmakers took a significant step towards strengthening human service programs today. The House Health Committee passed HB 2138 with bipartisan support to restore the dignity of work for people…
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Read More: House Takes Step Towards Transformative Welfare ReformEducation
Empowering Parents of Students with Special Needs
Friends thought Dorothy Famiano was nuts when she decided to adopt two toddlers with special needs. She didn’t listen to the naysayers. Today Nicholas, who is confined to a…
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Read More: Empowering Parents of Students with Special NeedsEducation
Taxpayer Funds Used to Lobby Against Educational Choice
All Pennsylvania students deserve quality educations. For kids with unmet educational needs, Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) provide access to the opportunities many of their peers already enjoy. Yet, instead…
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Read More: Taxpayer Funds Used to Lobby Against Educational ChoiceState Budget
How to Craft a Responsible Budget
Under Gov. Wolf, total state spending has risen by nearly $5.3 billion. This includes more than $2.9 billion in new General Fund spending—a sum exceeding the combined spending increases of…
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welfare infographic
Bipartisan federal welfare reform in 1996 promoted independence by keeping people engaged in the workforce. Healthy adults were limited to 3 months of cash assistance benefits unless they worked 20…
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