Media

State Budget

Wolf Truth Squad: Tax Hikes on Working Families

• Nathan Benefield
• October 2, 2015

UPDATE: Gov. Wolf offered a new tax proposal on October 6, 2015. Here is a summary of that plan   As noted yesterday, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives…

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Regulation

The Mirage of Green Jobs

• Gordon Tomb
• October 2, 2015

Promoters of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s carbon-emission regulation attempt to playdown the jobs it would kill with promises of “green jobs”. Yet these positions pay less and are largely…

Media

State Budget

Analysis: Wolf’s Latest Tax Plan Costs Families $1,000

• October 1, 2015

Analysis: Wolf’s Latest Tax Plan Costs Families $1,000—Vote Next Week 14,000 Jobs Not Created as a Result October 1, 2015, HARRISBURG, Pa.—Next week, the state House plans…

Press Release

Tax Hike Vote: Four Things to Know

• Nathan Benefield
• October 1, 2015

UPDATE: Gov. Wolf offered a new tax proposal on October 6, 2015. Here is a summary of that plan   Legislative leaders have promised that on Wednesday October 7,…

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Education

Wolf Veto = $11 Million Bill for Taxpayers

• Nathan Benefield
• September 30, 2015

School districts have borrowed $346 million—and taxpayers will pay to pay up to $11 million in interest payments—as a result of Gov. Wolf’s budget vetoes, according to a report…

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State Budget

Fresh Start, or Stale Policies of Decades Past?

• Nathan Benefield
• September 30, 2015

At the beginning of 2015, we heard a lot about a “fresh start” for Pennsylvania. But nine months later, it's difficult to identify anything fresh about Gov. Wolf's tax, borrow…

Media

State Budget

Wolf Blocks Education Funding, Issues 6th, 7th & 8th Vetoes

• September 29, 2015

Wolf Blocks Education Funding, Issues 6th, 7th & 8th Vetoes Students, Disabled, & Struggling Held Hostage by Governor’s Tax-Hike Fixation September 29, 2015, HARRISBURG, Pa.—“The answer’s no. Now,…

Press Release

State Budget

Who Will Vote to Raise Your Taxes?

• Nathan Benefield
• September 29, 2015

Republican leadership in the General Assembly has announced they will allow a floor vote on a budget proposal that has the massive tax increases Gov. Wolf and government union leaders desire—if Democrats…

Media

Government Accountability

Secret Contract Leaves Taxpayers in the Dark

• September 29, 2015

In a special Friday night voting session, board members in Monessen School District unanimously approved a new teachers’ contract, which runs through 2018. The terms of the contract, including…

Media

Regulation

Losers and Phony-Baloneys

• Nathan Benefield
• September 23, 2015

Last week, Gov. Wolf unveiled new, bad policy ideas—to slightly adjust a misguided pension proposal, and to propose a private manager to a government run liquor monopoly.  But just as…

Media

State Budget

Audio: A Path of Compromise

• Jonathan Reginella
• September 21, 2015

Refusing to abandon his demands for the highest tax increase in state history, Gov. Wolf continues to fuel a budget impasse that has left human-services agencies and schools without…

Media

It’s Not Right That I Have to Pay Hundreds to Keep My Job

• Brittney Parker
• September 21, 2015

Media

Public Union Democracy

One woman’s quest to free teachers

• Elizabeth Stelle
• September 18, 2015

Rebecca Friedrichs never understood her union. As a new teacher, Friedrichs noticed a teacher in the classroom next to hers was abusive towards her students. When Friedrichs tried to…

Media

Education

Audio: Protecting Teachers’ Rights and Paychecks

• Jonathan Reginella
• September 18, 2015

Teacher unions are taking money from teachers to fund political causes they do not support. Through Free to Teach, teachers like James Williams and Linda Misja are speaking…

Media

Regulation

New Wolf Offer, Same Bad Policy

• Nathan Benefield
• September 17, 2015

Yesterday, 28 days after receiving a budget compromise proposal from legislative Republicans, Gov. Wolf rejected that offer and issued his own plan—hiring a private contractor to manage the government liquor…

Media

Regulation

Gov. Wolf Offers Status Quo Packaged as ‘Reform’

• September 17, 2015

Contact: Gina Diorio, 862-703-6670, gld@comfdnprod.wpengine.com Gov. Wolf Offers Status Quo Packaged as ‘Reform’ Liquor and Pension Proposals Fall Short of Much-Needed Change Good morning, Yesterday, Governor Tom…

Press Release

Taxes & Economy

Leader of the Free World?

• Elizabeth Stelle
• September 16, 2015

What do Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates and Canada have in common? Their citizens all enjoy more economic freedom than Americans. According to the 2015 Economic Freedom of the World Index,…

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Regulation

Audio: Getting Government Out of the Booze Business

• Jonathan Reginella
• September 16, 2015

A majority of Pennsylvanians support a privatized liquor industry, but government unions use their financial clout to ensure the state government maintains a monopoly over wine and spirits. WILK’s…

Media

Education

Cosigned: Amicus Brief Says SCOTUS Must Restore Teachers’ Rights

• September 16, 2015

Cosigned: Amicus Brief Says SCOTUS Must Restore Teachers’ Rights Friedrichs Case Critical to Restoring PA Teachers’ Freedoms  September 16, 2015, Harrisburg, Pa.—For Pennsylvania teachers and other public…

Press Release

Education

Young Teachers Pay the Price for Pension Politics

• James Paul
• September 15, 2015

The first month of a new school year is an exciting—but stressful—time for school teachers. This is particularly true for young, newly-hired teachers who must quickly acclimate to their students,…

Media

State Budget

Free the Budget Hostages

• Matthew Brouillette, Nathan Benefield
• September 15, 2015

This week, lawmakers are expected to vote for a “stop-gap budget”—funding state services and programs for a few months, while continuing to negotiate a budget compromise. Yet, some politicians oppose…

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