Media

Regulation

Fact Sheet: Leveraging Liquor Privatization to Balance the Budget

• June 26, 2017

Last year, lawmakers loosened Pennsylvania’s monopolistic grip on wine and liquor sales with the passage of Act 39. However, the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) still maintains a high…

Media

Regulation

Is a Budget Deja Vu in Pennsylvania’s Future?

• June 26, 2017

The General Assembly is floating a plan to balance the state budget with higher taxes and more borrowing, according to Charles Thompson of PennLive. Sound familiar? Lawmakers adopted…

Media

Regulation

A Visitor’s Guide to Buying Booze in PA

• June 23, 2017

Planning a dinner? Picking up a hostess gift? Here’s our handy shopping guide to keep things E.A.S.Y.*  *Every Annoying Stop You have to make to get what you need.

Media

Health Care

What the Senate ACA Repeal Plan Means for PA

• Elizabeth Stelle
• June 23, 2017

A draft of the U.S. Senate GOP plan to repeal and replace Obamacare is out in the open. Overall, the bill is a step in right direction. The plan fundamentally…

Media

Education

Measuring Academic Success with Education Savings Accounts

• James Paul
• June 23, 2017

How do we determine if a school is succeeding? Many will point to a combination of test scores, graduation rates, and student growth. Certainly, these are important factors—but by no…

Media

Regulation

Growing PA’s Economy through Relief, not Mandates

• Colleen Hroncich
• June 22, 2017

Pennsylvania ranks among the worst states in terms of job growth (46th) and personal income growth (45th). Our unemployment rate remains well above the national average and our economy grew…

Media

Education

Audio: “Rainy Day” Funds Raining on Taxpayers

• June 22, 2017

School districts across Pennsylvania have stashed away millions of surplus funds for a “rainy day,” yet some continue to request higher taxes at the same time. Of course, for…

Media

News Release: Last Year’s State Budget Killed Nearly 100 Vape Shops

• June 20, 2017

Facing a budget shortfall last year, lawmakers and Gov. Tom Wolf slapped a massive 40 percent wholesale tax on vaping products, forcing vape shop owners to pay the tax retroactively…

Press Release

Education

Will Philly Union Contract Require State Bailout?

• James Paul
• June 20, 2017

Philadelphia’s new teacher contract could be so expensive as to require teacher layoffs to pay for it. But there’s another way the $395 million pact could be financed: with…

Media

State Budget

Stop Calling for Higher Taxes

• Nathan Benefield
• June 20, 2017

In comments at the Pennsylvania Press Club yesterday, Sen. Jay Costa addressed the state deficit and called for tax increases. Costa said, “A year from now, someone will be standing…

Media

Education

Philly Union Contract Underscores Need for Transparency

• James Paul
• June 19, 2017

On Monday evening, members of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT) voted to approve a new labor contract with the School District of Philadelphia. Scant details have emerged on…

Media

State Budget

The Solution to Pa.’s Perpetual Deficit Problems

• June 19, 2017

Pennsylvania is rapidly approaching the June 30 budget deadline. Over the next two weeks, lawmakers will decide how to balance the 2017-18 budget. But they’ll also need to settle old…

Media

Health Care

One Step Towards Redesigning Human Services

• Elizabeth Stelle
• June 15, 2017

Governor Wolf’s proposal to merge four state agencies into the Department of Health and Human Services has the potential to benefit taxpayers and beneficiaries by eliminating bureaucratic redundancies and providing…

Media

Health Care

Obamacare’s Cost Increase Aren’t “Just Fine”

• Nathan Benefield
• June 15, 2017

This week, Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Teresa Miller sent a letter suggesting that an 8.8 percent increase in insurance premiums next year was a good thing, and…

Media

Regulation

Pennsylvania Ranks Poorly…Again

• Colleen Hroncich
• June 14, 2017

Redesigning state government has never been more important. For evidence, check out Pennsylvania’s poor performance in U.S. News & World Report’s recent Best States Rankings. Overall, the study puts the…

Media

Education

Are Pennsylvania Schools Underfunded?

• James Paul
• June 13, 2017

New figures from Pennsylvania's Department of Education refute the persistent myth that Pennsylvania public schools are underfunded. See the charts below for 2015-16 statistics on school spending,…

Media

Regulation

Making the Most of Philadelphia’s Upswing

• Elizabeth Stelle
• June 13, 2017

Last week I blogged about Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto’s misplaced confidence in government energy mandates to grow the Steel City. On the other side of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney…

Media

Regulation

Gov. Wolf Signs Historic Pension Reform

• Elizabeth Stelle
• June 13, 2017

Yesterday Governor Wolf signed transformative pension reform. SB 1 will establish a side-by-side hybrid plan for new employees, greatly reducing taxpayer risk and laying the foundation for further reform.

Media

Education

Non-Teacher Staffing Surge Fails Students

• June 12, 2017

Students have not benefited from large increases in public school staffing, according to a new study from EdChoice. Dr. Ben Scafidi, director of the Education Economics Center at Kennesaw…

Media

Education

Growing Chorus Urges School Boards to Protect Taxpayers

• James Paul
• June 9, 2017

In response to CF’s research on school district reserve funds, reporters and editorial boards have weighed in on the question: Why are districts holding millions in reserve while seeking…

Media

Health Care

PA’s Unaffordable Health Care Act Premiums

• Colleen Hroncich
• June 9, 2017

If there’s ever a contest for least accurately named law, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) would certainly be in the running. In the aftermath of the ACA, more commonly called…

Media