Research

Taxes & Economy

Spending Diet Step #3: Stop Over-Taxing

• July 3, 2007

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

Taxes & Economy

Mass Transit Reform: Lessons for Pennsylvania

• June 26, 2007

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…

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Education

Taxpayer-Funded Preschool: Count the Costs

• June 13, 2007

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…

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Education

Taxpayer-Funded, Universal Preschool in Pennsylvania: Benefits Questioned

• Nathan Benefield
• June 13, 2007

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…

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Taxes & Economy

Act 1 Property-to-Income Tax Shift

• May 8, 2007

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…

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Taxes & Economy

The Emerging Paradigm: Financing and Managing Pennsylvanias Transportation Infrastructure and Mass Transit

• Matthew Brouillette
• March 6, 2007

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…

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State Budget

State Government Spending

• February 1, 2007

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…

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Taxes & Economy

Taxpayers Guide to the Rendell Property Tax Relief Act of 2006

• February 1, 2007

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…

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Regulation

Pension Reform

• October 6, 2006

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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Taxes & Economy

The Estimated Impact of the Swann Tax Cuts

• Nathan Benefield
• September 25, 2006

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…

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Taxes & Economy

Total Cost of Pennsylvania State & Local Government

• September 13, 2006

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).

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Government Accountability

Potential Effects of Reducing the Size of the Pennsylvania General Assembly

• Nathan Benefield
• August 23, 2006

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

Regulation

The Merits of a Judicial Pay Raise in Pennsylvania

• June 30, 2006

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

State Budget

Pennsylvania Piglet Book 2006

• Nathan Benefield
• May 30, 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

The Property Tax Relief Scholarship Act

• Matthew Brouillette, Nathan Benefield
• April 12, 2006

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

Regulation

Beneath the Surface: Pennsylvania’s Looming Pension and Healthcare Benefits Crisis

• Richard Dreyfuss
• February 23, 2006

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…

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Taxes & Economy

Minimum Wage: Q & A

• December 15, 2005

WHO ARE MINIMUM WAGE WORKERS IN PENNSYLVANIA?…

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Public Union Democracy

Property Taxpayer Protections: Tax Referendum & Prevailing Wage

• December 14, 2005

The Pennsylvania General Assembly is in the midst of discussing what to do about school property taxes. The discussion is an old one in Harrisburg. The complexity of this issue…

Fact Sheet

State Budget

Pennsylvania’s Spending Limitation Bills

• Matthew Brouillette
• November 8, 2005

Pennsylvania is Exhibit #1 proving the axiom: “You can have government growth, or you can have economic growth, but you can’t have both!” For years, Pennsylvania public policy has increased…

Fact Sheet

Taxes & Economy

Minimum Wage: Facts

• October 18, 2005

Proponents of artificial increases in the government-mandated minimum wage argue, among other things, that raising the hourly minimum wage will help to lift families with children out of poverty and…

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Taxes & Economy

The Effects of the Proposed Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Increase

• September 13, 2005

In recent years, the movement to enact “living wages” or increases in the minimum wage has been active in states and cities across the country. Advocates of these wage hikes…

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