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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
The Global Warming Test
What do you know about Global Warming? Take the Global Warming Test from the Heartland Institute.
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Pinocchio Ed
Allegheny Institute’s Jake Haulk in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review challenges — among other half-baked claims made by Gov. Rendell — the mindset that government “investment” of tax dollars is a…
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Questions raised about union official’s pension
Story on the former Pittsburgh Port Authority union leader’s “special retirement package” in today’s Post-Gazette. And we wonder why Pittsburgh’s mass transit system is always on the verge…
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Watch Benefield on Cyber School Funding
I will be on Pennsylvania Newsmakers dicussing cyber school funding. Click here for TV listings this weekend and next week.
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Rendell, Orie: Privatize PHEAA
Post Gazette – PHEAA bonuses enrage Rendell: “I haven’t seen a mind-set change to ‘We’re a public agency and we’re going to act like a public…
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Taxpayers poised to pay $2 billion for pensions
Morning Call story on the looming crisis in state and school employees’ pensions.
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More on PHEAA from the Guv
Governor calls PHEAA bonuses “outrageous” – Breaking News with The Patriot-News Sens. Jane Orie, R-Allegheny, and John Rafferty, R-Montgomery, reacted to the bonuses by saying they plan to…
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Feds receive request to toll I-80
Toll Roads News on the Application of the PA Turnpike Commission for tolling I-80 – featuring a copy of the actual application and some commentary including: The application…
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Bonus Time At PHEAA
Jan Murphy at the Patriot News on PHEAA’s latest round of bonuses, noting that PHEAA CEO Dick Willey’s bonus is higher than Governor Rendell’s salary.The headline “PHEAA’s…
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Tobacco companies must pay Pa. growers
Story from the AP and Intelligencer Journal on a court ruling that tobacco companies must pay tobacco farmers for lost revenue (HT to Grassroots PA). The PA Attorney…
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Kids First?
David Freddoso on SCHIP on National Review Online takes on two key parts of the SCHIP debate. First is the Bush administration’s new rules that states will have to…
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Liberal Views, Black Victims
Walter E. Williams on crime in Philadelphia, and what citizens (yes, citizens, not lawmakers) should do about it.
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Improving Pennsylvania’s Highways and Bridges Through Public-Private Partnerships
State Senator Jake Corman on the benefits of P3s in Transportation, and his plans to introduce authorizing legislation in the fall.
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How to reduce the cost of insurance by 50%
Wall Street Journal article on new, low-cost individual health insurance offerings. (HT to SPN Blog) This sounded good especially, “Humana Inc. packages start at $26 a month“. This…
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Drunk on ethanol
Los Angeles Times article on politicians love for ethanol – mandating its use and subsidizing its production, while keeping high tariffs on foreign ethanol. They also point out how…
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Dunk’s Commentaries
Bill Dunkelberg–who is a Commonwealth Foundation Board Member, Temple economics professor, and chief economist for the NFIB–provides these regular commentaries on today’s issues. Here’s his latest installment… With…
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Do stop-light cameras kill?
I am on an email list giving about 85 or so reasons to oppose stop-light cameras. I think I’ve ignored about 52 of these emails so far, but I’ll pass…
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Like them or not, cyber schools prove accountable
Editorial by Dennis Tulli in the Lebanon Daily News on the accountability of cyber schools, along with their underfunding (and the frequent refusal of school districts to pay their…
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Pennsylvanians not pleased with plan for I-80
Pennsylvanians are starting to give their two cents on Gov. Rendell’s proposed plan to toll I-80, and so far, they aren’t singing its praises. Not even close.
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Real Consideration of Turnpike Lease?
Pete DeCoursey at Capitolwire is reporting that not only is Governor Rendell continuing to press for a Turnpike Lease, but that he has several supporters, including Sen. Jake…
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Toll of teacher strikes
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review on the cost of teacher strikes in PA, citing this study by the Allegheny Institute. Also read Simon Campbell’s commentary on legislation to end teacher…
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