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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…
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Energy
Pennsylvania Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments on RGGI
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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
Turnpike Unions Sued
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that 26 PA Turnpike Employees are suing the union (Teamsters Local 250) for witholding union dues, even after they requested to leave the union. In…
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PHEAA travel guidelines
Patriot News article on PHEAA’s consideration of new travel guidelines. PHEAA CEO Dick Willey adds: “The problem with buying bottles of wine is that they tend to add up.”…
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Is your governor a good-time Charlie?
That is the question posed by Stephen Moore as he discusses State Spending Sprees in the Wall Street Journal. The answer, if you are reading this in the Keystone…
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Governors health care plan assailed
Alison Hawkes in The Herald Standard on business groups responses to Governor Rendell’s universal healthcare plan. [Rendell healthcare spokeswoman] Kelchner said she can’t understand why business trade associations are…
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Leasing Toll Roads FAQ
Analysis by the Reason Foundation on the most frequently asked questions about leasing toll roads, along with addressing the most common rhetoric from critics.
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RomneyCare falls down slippery slope
New York Times reports on the how RomneyCare (as Massachusetts’ universal health care plan is known) continues to be worse than advertised. The board of the “Connector” which was…
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Subsidies backlash
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review makes note of how “economic development” grants to “create jobs” were in reality just money down the drain.
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Senator Proposes Term Limits
Coverage of yesterday’s Policies & Principles Forum in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. If you missed the event, you can get the video here.
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You may need $1 more for turnpike
More coverage of the Turnpike’s “public-public” partnership plan in the Patriot News, with a brief mention of Matt Brouillette’s testimony to the Senate Transportation Committee. Also read Geoff…
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The Benefits of Leasing the Pennsylvania Turnpike
MARCH 20, 2007 Thank you Senator Madigan and members of the Senate Transportation Committee for this opportunity to share with you why the Commonwealth Foundation believes that leasing the Pennsylvania…
Testimony
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The Turnpike Strikes Back
As a counter-proposal to lease, the Turnpike Commission proposes generating more revenue for transportation by: Putting Tolls on I-80 Putting “congestion tolls” on all Turnpike exits around Pittsburgh,…
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Rendell touts transportation plan
Post-Gazette coverage of Rendell’s “transportation tour”. Apparently, he is now looking specifically at a 30-year lease of the Turnpike.
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PHEAA spending splurge nears end
Jan Murphy of the Patriot News reports that PHEAA board members/legislators have promised to cut back on lavish expenses and act more like a “public agency.” Matt Brouillette points…
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Year of Tax Hikes
Stateline.org looks at proposed tax hikes in a number of states, including PA, calling 2007 “the year of tax hikes”. This is bad news for PA taxpayers, as past…
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The facade of legislative reform
Brad Bumsted on reform rhetoric vs. reality.
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PA’s Election Influence
While some have called for an earlier primary to “give Pennsylvania more influence” in Presidential nominations, PA’s influence is likely to decline for another reason — stagnant population growth. The…
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Leisure Inequality
Interesting point about inequality and redistribution policy: As you’ve probably heard, there’s been an explosion of inequality in the United States over the past four decades. The gap between…
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Gaming board: Losers Pay Too
The PA Gaming Control Board, is demanding that the applicants who did not receive a slots license pay $84 million, reported by the PA Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. In other…
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House GOP will limit PSAs
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports that the PA House GOP will limit “public service announcements” to three per year per members. Even I buy the logic that the state needs to…
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PHEAA runs up bills for wives
Listing of PHEAA Conference expenses compiled by Jan Murphy featured in the Tribune Review. The list is absolutely amazing. Meanwhile Sen. Michael O’Pake stated that the PHEAA board,…
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Free-Market Health Reform
GOP legislators have introduced a healthcare reform plan based on market principles to challenge the governor’s government run healthcare proposal. Unfortunately that is going on in California, not Pennsylvania (at…
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