Media

State Budget

Cost of Proposed Tax Hikes: 3,600 Jobs Lost

• Nathan Benefield
• August 2, 2017

The tax hikes included in the revenue plan passed by the Senate (26-24) and supported by Gov. Wolf amount to nearly $600 million in total new taxes for next…

Testimony

Public Union Democracy

Erie Suspends Costly Ghost Teaching

• Jessica Barnett
• August 1, 2017

Someone in Erie must have called the ghostbusters. Last August, the Erie School District and the Erie Education Association signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) ending ghost teaching in…

Media

Regulation

Liquor Privatization: The Cure for Power Plays and Tax Hikes

• July 27, 2017

Get ready to pay more for alcohol in state stores. The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) is set to use its newly acquired power—via Act 39—to raise the…

Media

State Budget

Doubling Down on Tax Increases

• July 27, 2017

Bucking calls to responsibly balance the budget, the state Senate passed a plan to borrow more than $1.2 billion and raise taxes by more than $570 million. The total tax…

Media

State Budget

News Release: Senate’s Broad-Based Tax Hikes Should Be Rejected by House

• July 27, 2017

In an effort to close a budget gap created by their own overspending,  Senate lawmakers today passed a series of broad-based tax hikes that will hit nearly every Pennsylvania family…

Press Release

Education

Senate Nixes Tax Credit Scholarship Expansion

• James Paul
• July 27, 2017

Late last night the Senate Appropriations Committee amended the Education Code, HB 178, without including an increase for Pennsylvania's popular tax credit scholarship programs. An earlier version of the…

Media

Tax Hikes Won’t Fix Deficit, Reforms Will

• Nathan Benefield
• July 26, 2017

Tax hikes won’t fix the structural deficit. We just raised taxes last year, having a devastating impact on vape shops, and have raised taxes four times in the last…

Media

State Budget

More Bad Budget Ideas: Resurrecting the Home Heating Tax

• Elizabeth Stelle
• July 26, 2017

With no clear path to a balanced budget, lawmakers have suggested resurrecting the long-dead natural gas receipts tax in order to pay for this year's $32 billion budget. Sound familiar?…

Media

Education

News Release: Wolf Rewards Ghost Teacher, Union Campaign Contributor with Cabinet Nomination

• July 26, 2017

Failing to show up for work is usually grounds for dismissal, but for Gov. Wolf, it’s reason for promotion. In nominating Jerry Oleksiak as the next Secretary of Labor &…

Press Release

Health Care

Obamacare Continues to Destabilize Health Insurance

• Elizabeth Stelle
• July 25, 2017

Obamacare repeal efforts have included transformative Medicaid reform, but retained many of the regulations responsible for collapsing individual markets. On Friday, the Pennsylvania Insurance Department released shocking individual insurance rate requests…

Media

Public Union Democracy

New Home Healthcare Scheme from Wolf Administration

• July 24, 2017

Despite having his home health care executive order struck down by the Commonwealth Court last year, Gov. Wolf seems intent on funneling state money to his pals at the Service…

Media

Education

Education Code Boosts Private Scholarships, Protects Excellent Teachers

• James Paul
• July 23, 2017

The state House recently passed SB 227, which serves as the education code for the 2017-18 fiscal year. Chris Comisac of Capitolwire.com (paywall) has details on the substance…

Media

State Budget

The Tax Hike Non-Solution

• July 20, 2017

Contrary to the prevailing media narrative, it appears budget negotiations have taken a positive turn. According to Jason Gottesman of The PLS Reporter (paywall), House Republicans—led by Speaker Mike Turzai—have offered…

Media

Taxes & Economy

Pennsylvania’s Poor Showings Aren’t Permanent

• July 20, 2017

The commonwealth continues to score poorly in 24/7 Wall St.’s list of the nation’s best-and worst-run states, ranking 42nd right between neighbors West Virginia and New Jersey. Put differently, Pennsylvania is…

Media

Regulation

Rescuing Pennsylvania from Fiscal Shipwreck

• July 18, 2017

The state’s shaky fiscal position is no secret. Lawmakers continue to negotiate behind closed doors to eliminate the current deficit and pay for new spending in the $32…

Media

Education

Wolf Cost Pa. Kids 8,000+ Scholarships

• James Paul
• July 17, 2017

Scholarships awarded by Pennsylvania's tax credit programs plummeted by 8,404 in 2016, compared to the previous year. To put that number in context: 8,400 students would comprise the…

Media

Regulation

Wolf Targets Job Creators for Tax Hikes

• Elizabeth Stelle
• July 17, 2017

At the top of Governor Wolf’s revenue wish list sits an even higher severance tax on natural gas. Yet, this tax would fail to balance the budget and cause further economic stagnation by suppressing existing revenue streams…

Media

Here’s How a Tax-Increasing Budget Destroys Jobs

• Nathan Benefield
• July 14, 2017

Gov. Tom Wolf, some Harrisburg lawmakers, and government union leaders and lobbyists continue to demand higher taxes on working families. These include potential taxes on families' cable bills, homeowners' heat bills, restaurant patrons' bar tabs,…

Media

Education

Can School Choice Reduce Crime?

• July 14, 2017

We know different parents have different preferences regarding how their children are educated. Some may place an emphasis on standardized test scores, while others want certain moral or religious values.

Media

Regulation

Economy Stalls While Government Grows

• July 13, 2017

This week, lawmakers and the Wolf Administration were unable to agree on a revenue package to pay for a $32 billion budget proposal. Once again, state government is…

Media

Regulation

A Double Whammy for PA Job Creators

• Gordon Tomb
• July 12, 2017

The governor continues to insist on hiking natural gas taxes to balance the budget, while bureaucrats are heaping regulatory burdens on Pennsylvania’s most dynamic industry of the past decade.

Media