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Fairness
New Analysis Reveals Striking Partisanship of Government Union Spending
Government unions spent more than $33 million on political causes and only 5.2 percent of PAC contributions went to non-Democratic candidates. Harrisburg, Pa., April 16, 2025 — Government unions…
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Prosperity
Independent Fiscal Office Exposes Shapiro’s Overinflated Revenue Projections
Read More: Independent Fiscal Office Exposes Shapiro’s Overinflated Revenue Projections
Education
Senate Republicans School Shapiro Administration, Stand up for Students and Taxpayers
Read More: Senate Republicans School Shapiro Administration, Stand up for Students and Taxpayers
Commonwealth Foundation Announces Promotion of Elizabeth Stelle to Vice President of Policy
Read More: Commonwealth Foundation Announces Promotion of Elizabeth Stelle to Vice President of Policy
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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HSAs and ER visits
A Harvard Medical School study links high deductible health plans (which include HSA plans) to fewer emergency room visits. Turns out (as the Commonwealth Foundation has said many…
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The end of PHEAA?
Governor Rendell says PHEAA “doesn’t have any reason to exist” in the Patriot News. Though it comes with a caveat: “There has to be a culture change at PHEAA,…
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Turnpike Hysteria
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports that Timothy Carson, vice chairman of the Turnpike Commission, explains what would happen if the Turnpike were to be leased to a private firm: tolls could…
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More on House Reform
Pete DeCoursey of Capitolwire (subscription) with a scathing column about the lack of propsects for real reform: If you wanted to see how much is changing in the…
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The arena deal: Lost opportunity
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review editorial on the welfare for the Penguins. The Post-Gazette has more of the details of the deal here. Also read Lee Wishing’s Commentary on the…
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A New Day in Harrisburg?
The new PA House rules passed last night unanimously to much praise from lawmakers. The major changes include Provide online access to bills, votes, and financial information Banning “ghost voting”…
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