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Education
Pennsylvania School Funding Reaches $23,000 per Student in 2024
Pennsylvania Public School Spending is Growing Public school spending reaches historic levels year after year. Pennsylvania public school revenue per student increased to $23,061 in the 2023-24 school year, up…
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Education
Rethinking School District Reserve Funds as Students Return to Class
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Education
Persistently Dangerous Pennsylvania Public Schools
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Prevailing Wage in Pennsylvania
Summary Prevailing wage law dictates the minimum wage rates paid to workers on public construction projects if the project’s estimated costs exceed a certain threshold. Pennsylvania’s threshold for prevailing wage…
Fact Sheet
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Restarting Three Mile Island: Quick Facts
Quick Facts On September 20, 2024, Constellation Energy entered a 20-year agreement with Microsoft to restart Three Mile Island’s (TMI) unit one reactor, renaming the facility “Crane Clean Energy…
Fact Sheet
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Pennsylvania’s Education Tax Credit Scholarships: How EITC Serves Children and Families in the Commonwealth
Key Findings Pennsylvania’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) and Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit (OSTC) are state tax credit programs that give thousands of low- to middle- income students access to…
Executive Summary
Read More: Pennsylvania’s Education Tax Credit Scholarships: How EITC Serves Children and Families in the CommonwealthPublic Union Democracy
The Battle for Worker Freedom: Grading State Public Sector Labor Laws
Key Findings The four largest government unions—American Federation of Teachers (AFT), American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), National Education Association (NEA), and Service Employees International Union (SEIU)—lost…
Executive Summary
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2024–25 State Budget Analysis
Key Points Pennsylvania’s $47.6 billion 2024–25 budget creates a $3.6 billion structural deficit. This will exhaust General Fund reserves, which will require draining from the Rainy Day fund—illegally—or raising taxes…
Fact Sheet
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Pa. Travelers’ Guide: Summer Gasoline Prices
Pennsylvania’s June average gasoline price was higher than all its neighbor states except New York. While Pennsylvania’s gasoline price has decreased from its 2022 record high, the long-term picture shows…
Backgrounder
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Child Learning Investment Tax Credit
Summary Last year, lawmakers approved the Child and Dependent Care Enhancement Tax Credit and a $66.7 million increase for child-care subsidies. Pennsylvania lawmakers are looking for ways to lower…
Fact Sheet
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Governor Josh Shapiro “Ain’t Got Sh*t Done”
Overview Governor Josh Shapiro has made “Get Sh*t Done,” profanity and all, the official slogan of his administration, but when it comes to legislative accomplishments, his governing abilities have…
Fact Sheet
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The High Cost of Pa. K–12 Education Failures
Key Points The cost and risk of failure in our K–12 system is high. Low academic achievement is a predictor of lower lifetime incomes and higher costs for taxpayers. On…
Backgrounder
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Energizing Federalism: Defending Pennsylvania from Anti-Energy Policies
Summary The Commonwealth Foundation joins several energy policy groups in two coalition letters opposing the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) latest power plant rule and the PROVE IT Act.
Fact Sheet
Read More: Energizing Federalism: Defending Pennsylvania from Anti-Energy PoliciesState Budget
Proposed Tax Cuts and the 2024 State Budget
Key Points A responsible budget in fiscal year (FY) 2024–25 must grapple with Pennsylvania’s aging and shrinking workforce challenges through sound tax and regulatory reform. State Senate Republicans proposed two…
Fact Sheet
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Pa. School Funding Reaches $22,000 per Student in 2023
Pennsylvania Public School Spending Is Growing Over the last decade, state spending on Pennsylvania public schools reached all-time highs year after year. Pennsylvania per-pupil public school funding increased to $21,985…
Fact Sheet
Read More: Pa. School Funding Reaches $22,000 per Student in 2023Public Union Democracy
Shapiro’s Project Labor Agreement Mandate
Summary Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) are pre-hire agreements between the government and a contractor that outline the terms and conditions for a certain project. Gov. Josh Shapiro wrote to state…
Fact Sheet
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Regulatory Reforms Stalled in State House
Summary Gov. Josh Shapiro’s PAyback permit rebate program is a step forward. But alone, it is insufficient to fix Pennsylvania’s above-average regulatory burden. The governor says he wants to…
Fact Sheet
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PACER & PRESS Analysis
Overview Gov. Josh Shapiro campaigned on a healthy skepticism of carbon taxes before proposing his own carbon tax scheme. His new energy agenda centers around the Pennsylvania Climate…
Fact Sheet
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Avoiding Deadly Blackouts
Summary Pennsylvania urgently needs a plan to restore grid reliability and prevent electricity blackouts from extreme cold weather. Winter Storm Elliot in 2022 almost brought widespread blackouts, but it was…
Fact Sheet
Read More: Avoiding Deadly BlackoutsPublic Union Democracy
Government Union PAC Spending in 2023
Summary Pennsylvania government union political action committees (PACs) spent $5.6 million in 2023, a record high for an odd-year election where there is not a presidential or midterm election. Of…
Fact Sheet
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Higher Education in Pennsylvania
Summary Pennsylvania owns and operates 10 universities under the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE); subsidizes four state-related universities (which function as public-private partnerships); 15 community…
Fact Sheet
Read More: Higher Education in PennsylvaniaPublic Union Democracy
State of the Unions: Examining Union Membership in State Government
Key Findings Public sector labor unions in 33 states represent state government employees, a segment of overall public sector employment, for purposes of collective bargaining. For this research, 27 of…
Executive Summary
Read More: State of the Unions: Examining Union Membership in State GovernmentState Budget
Corporate Welfare in the 2024–25 Budget
Summary Pennsylvania’s economy is largely uncompetitive, with the state routinely losing businesses and residents to more economically competitive states like Florida, North Carolina, and Texas. Gov. Josh Shapiro’s budget proposes…
Fact Sheet
Read More: Corporate Welfare in the 2024–25 BudgetState Budget
Shapiro’s Structural Deficit
Summary Gov. Josh Shapiro proposed a $48.3 billion 2024–25 General Fund budget, a $3 billion or 7.1 percent spending increase compared to last year’s ongoing general fund spending. The proposal…
Fact Sheet
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