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Education
Key Takeaways from Governor’s 2024 Budget Proposal
Key Points Gov. Josh Shapiro’s startling spending increases and myriad of new initiatives would explode the budget deficit and invite massive tax hikes on working families in the coming years.
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Energy
Pa. Travelers’ Guide: Summer Gasoline Prices
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Energy
Energy Policy
Governor Ed Rendell has proposed issuing $850 million in new debt to subsidize select “alternative energy” companies and energy conservation efforts, along with a mandate that every gallon of…
Fact Sheet
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Campaign Finance Limits & Public Funding
Pennsylvania lawmakers are considering legislation that would limit campaign contributions and would allow for taxpayer financing of gubernatorial campaigns. This legislation is based on the “Clean Election” model passed by…
Fact Sheet
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The Dollars and Sense of School Choice
Introduction Every year, most Pennsylvania homeowners receive larger property tax bills due to increases in public school spending. In the nine school years from 1997 to 2006, school property taxes…
Fact Sheet
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Edifice Complex: Where Has All the Money Gone?
From the 1986-87 to 2005-06 school years, taxpayer spending on Pennsylvania’s government-run K-12 schools increased from $6.6 billion to almost $22 billion—a 72% increase after adjusting for inflation. Between…
Report
Read More: Edifice Complex: Where Has All the Money Gone?Regulation
Smoking Bans
The effort to ban smoking in restaurants, bars, and private businesses is a product of bad science and worse economics.
Fact Sheet
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Spending Diet Step #3: Stop Over-Taxing
Commonwealth Foundation calls on lawmakers to return the state’s $650 million surplus to taxpayers HARRISBURG, PA — Today, the Commonwealth Foundation called upon the General Assembly to return the state’s…
Fact Sheet
Read More: Spending Diet Step #3: Stop Over-TaxingTaxes & Economy
Mass Transit Reform: Lessons for Pennsylvania
Executive Summary Pennsylvania’s two major public transit agencies, the Philadelphia-area Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) and the Pittsburgh-based Port Authority Transit (PAT), have been in financial crisis for years, with…
Fact Sheet
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Taxpayer-Funded Preschool: Count the Costs
Governor Ed Rendell’s budget proposal for the 2007-08 fiscal year includes $75 million for “Pre-K Counts”—a taxpayer-funded program which would provide grants to school districts, Head Start programs, and government-approved…
Fact Sheet
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Taxpayer-Funded, Universal Preschool in Pennsylvania: Benefits Questioned
The push toward taxpayer-funded preschool for every child in Pennsylvania continues with Governor Rendell’s budget proposal for the 2007-08 fiscal year. The Governor wants $75 million for “Pre-K Counts,” which…
Fact Sheet
Read More: Taxpayer-Funded, Universal Preschool in Pennsylvania: Benefits QuestionedTaxes & Economy
Act 1 Property-to-Income Tax Shift
On May 15, 2007, voters across the Commonwealth will be asked to vote on a property-to-income tax shift to pay for public education expenditures. The Property Tax Relief Act of…
Fact Sheet
Read More: Act 1 Property-to-Income Tax ShiftTaxes & Economy
The Emerging Paradigm: Financing and Managing Pennsylvanias Transportation Infrastructure and Mass Transit
In November 2006, Governor Ed Rendell’s Pennsylvania Transportation Funding and Reform Commission identified a $1.7 billion annual shortfall in funding for the Commonwealth’s transportation infrastructure and mass transit services. The…
Report
Read More: The Emerging Paradigm: Financing and Managing Pennsylvanias Transportation Infrastructure and Mass TransitState Budget
State Government Spending
Over the last several decades, the growth in state government spending has exceeded both the rate of inflation and increases in the income of citizens. Unlimited government spending growth has…
Fact Sheet
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Taxpayers Guide to the Rendell Property Tax Relief Act of 2006
For more than three decades, Pennsylvania policymakers have repeatedly attempted to devise a mechanism to reduce school district property taxes on homeowners. Such a mechanism has been elusive. A number…
Fact Sheet
Read More: Taxpayers Guide to the Rendell Property Tax Relief Act of 2006Regulation
Pension Reform
Taxpayer contributions to Pennsylvania state and school employee’s retirement plans are expected to escalate dramatically beginning in 2011-12. Retiree healthcare will also place enormous burdens on future taxpayers. Specific actions…
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The Estimated Impact of the Swann Tax Cuts
Executive Summary Republican gubernatorial candidate Lynn Swann has proposed a number of changes to state tax rates. This analysis focuses on four major components of that proposal—namely reductions in the…
Fact Sheet
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Total Cost of Pennsylvania State & Local Government
The total cost of state and local government in Pennsylvania reached an estimated $108.3 billion in FY 2005-06, and will likely exceed $130 billion by FY 2010-11 (by conservative projections).
Fact Sheet
Read More: Total Cost of Pennsylvania State & Local GovernmentGovernment Accountability
Potential Effects of Reducing the Size of the Pennsylvania General Assembly
One of the most discussed legislative reforms in Harrisburg is a reduction in the size of the General Assembly. One version of this proposal, SB 890, sponsored by Sen. John…
Fact Sheet
Read More: Potential Effects of Reducing the Size of the Pennsylvania General AssemblyRegulation
The Merits of a Judicial Pay Raise in Pennsylvania
On July 7, 2005, a political firestorm was ignited in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the form of a controversial pay raise for legislators, members of the executive branch, and…
Fact Sheet
Read More: The Merits of a Judicial Pay Raise in PennsylvaniaState Budget
Pennsylvania Piglet Book 2006
The Pennsylvania Piglet Book 2006 is the joint effort of the Commonwealth Foundation and Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) to make the citizens of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania aware of…
Report
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The Property Tax Relief Scholarship Act
To date, the school property tax discussion in Pennsylvania has narrowly focused on the revenue side of the equation, without addressing the spending side of the ledger. This has led…
Fact Sheet
Read More: The Property Tax Relief Scholarship ActRegulation
Beneath the Surface: Pennsylvania’s Looming Pension and Healthcare Benefits Crisis
Pennsylvania government employee-benefit plans operate in a vacuum. In a world where private-sector benefit cutbacks and cost reductions occur on a daily basis, state government in Harrisburg has not responded…
Report
Read More: Beneath the Surface: Pennsylvania’s Looming Pension and Healthcare Benefits Crisis