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Education
Public Schools Increased Spending to $23,000 Per Student, Ballooned Reserves While Enrollment Declined
Harrisburg, Pa., May 15, 2025 — Pennsylvania school districts increased overall revenue collected in 2023–24 to $23,000 per student, while expanding general fund reserves to $7.4 billion, according to new…
Read More: Public Schools Increased Spending to $23,000 Per Student, Ballooned Reserves While Enrollment Declined
Energy
Pennsylvania Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments on RGGI
Read More: Pennsylvania Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments on RGGI
Education
Senate Education Committee Approves Bipartisan PASS Scholarships, Offering Lifeline to Students in Need
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
SCHIP Information Center
New Website from the NCPA provides a collection of information on the SCHIP program, including recent research, commentary, and blogs.
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Read More: SCHIP Information Center
Push for “Distracted Drivers” legislation
Legislation to ban hand held cell phones and text messages – aimed at curbing “distratcted drivers” – is being pushed as a top priority by House Democrats. In the…
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PHEAA CEO to step down
PHEAA CEO Dick Willey announced he will resign at the end of the year. Possible reasons include a better paying job in the private sector, belief that Governor…
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Tax Poor to Fund Middle Class
NCPA Report on SCHIP Expansion finds that If SCHIP is expanded as Congress now proposes, says the paper, people making under 200 percent of the poverty line…
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Many reasons to oppose the collecting of tolls on Interstate 80
Rep. Kerry Benninghoff on the need to repeal Act 44.
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Read More: Many reasons to oppose the collecting of tolls on Interstate 80
Defend America, Buy More Iranian Oil
This Reason Foundation Commentary explains why “Energy independence isn’t a good national security strategy,” in spite of Governor Rendell’s use of the “189 Pennsylvanians killed in Iraq and…
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Steyn: Nurse Hillary knows best
Mark Steyn on HillaryCare (and other proposed health insurance mandates)and freedom. From now on, everyone in America will have to have health insurance. Hooray! And,…
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Blowing both ways
David Hurst in the Altoona Mirror on Big Wind and Big Government. It looks like the wind energy companies have hired “Mr. Bring-home-the-bacon” Bob Jubelirer to bring home the…
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Is PA Government the Worst?
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review story on a Tim Potts presentation on taking Pennsylvania from “worst in the nation” to “best in the nation” in terms of good government. Unfortunately, spokesmen…
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Pat Toomey on “Transportation” Earmarks
Club for Growth President (and Commonwealth Foundation board member) Pat Toomey in National Review Online on the number of pork projects in the federal transportation funding bill…
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OECD report on Biofuels
The recent OECD report on biofuels is a must read for lawmakers consider Governor’s plan to mandate ethanol use and to subsidize ethanol production in PA: The…
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Read More: OECD report on Biofuels
Interstate 80 toll foes drive on capital
Patriot News on the growing push to repeal Act 44. More from the Commonwealth Foundation on repealing Act 44 here and here.
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Read More: Interstate 80 toll foes drive on capital
House Democrats fight probe of bonus payments
Patriot News on House Democrats’ taxpayer-funded lawsuit to limit the taxpayer-funded investigation into whether taxpayer-funded bonuses were handed out illegally.
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Read More: House Democrats fight probe of bonus payments
The Politics of Ethanol
NY Times article on The High Costs of Ethanol. If the typically liberal NY Times opposes the political games of ethanol, why does Governor Rendell continue to push…
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Republicans Can Win on Health Care
Karl Rove in the Wall Street Journal on some free market health care reforms. While Rove’s prescription contains much of the same reforms we suggested here and…
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Read More: Republicans Can Win on Health Care
Legislation on building wind farms encouraged
Patriot News Article on the debate over wind as a viable energy alternative. The headline is somewhat misleading, as the primary focus is on groups “encouraging” legislation that would…
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Read More: Legislation on building wind farms encouraged
More Resources on Energy
Here are a couple of resources on energy policy I forgot to include in my previous post: Energy, Environment and Economics: A Guide for State Legislators – ALEC…
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Read More: More Resources on Energy
Free Markets vs. Socialized Medicine
John Goodman on Hillary Clinton’s new health care propsal, along with comments on John Stossel’s latest special on health care, which aired on Friday. Also check out…
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Readings on Energy
As the General Assembly begins a special session on energy (and it looks like the debate is only on how much to borrow and spend on corporate welfare grants),…
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Merit pay for teachers begins to earn high grades
USA Today commentary on the success of teacher merit pay in Denver and elsewhere.
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Read More: Merit pay for teachers begins to earn high grades