Elizabeth Stelle
Vice President of Policy
Elizabeth leads the organization’s research and policy initiatives, focusing on expanding freedom and prosperity in Pennsylvania. Since joining the organization in 2008, she has researched and written extensively on education, energy, the state budget, and healthcare policy.
Her work has contributed to significant policy victories in Pennsylvania, including blocking tax increases, expanding educational-choice opportunities, and enacting a constitutional amendment to strengthen checks on executive power.
A frequent media commentator, Elizabeth’s analysis has appeared in Pennsylvania newspapers, radio, and television outlets, including the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and The Philadelphia Inquirer, as well as in national outlets, such as The Wall Street Journal.
She is a former America’s Future chapter chair and remains active in her community by volunteering with local nonprofits and serving as a foster parent. Elizabeth holds a degree in history from Grove City College and makes her home in the Pittsburgh area with her husband and four children.
Education
Do School Districts have to Raise Property Taxes?
Following Gov. Corbett’s budget, school district officials and the tax-and-spend lobby have cried that cuts to state education spending will force schools to increase property taxes. Yet this ignores several…
Media
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Happy Anniversary?
One year after ObamaCare was signed into law, a majority of Americans want it repealed. Here are some of the reasons why Pennsylvanians are dissatisfied with the law, even before…
Media
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Should Penn State Close Some Branch Campuses?
Among the dire predictions made by Penn State President Graham Spanier in response to Gov. Tom Corbett’s proposed budget cuts is that the university will have to close branch campuses.
Media
Read More: Should Penn State Close Some Branch Campuses?Regulation
Despite Union Propaganda, Residents Support Privatization
The Morning Call and Muhlenberg College recently conducted a poll on Pennsylvania’s budget situation. Despite months of union sponsored misinformation campaigns, Pennsylvania residents remain largely supportive…
Media
Read More: Despite Union Propaganda, Residents Support PrivatizationHealth Care
Medicaid Reforms Needed as Welfare Spending Surpasses Education
Under Gov. Corbett’s budget proposal, Pennsylvania would spend more on welfare than education for first time. A large chunk of that welfare spending is in Medicaid, a joint state-federal program…
Media
Read More: Medicaid Reforms Needed as Welfare Spending Surpasses EducationEducation
Progressives Agree: More Dollars Do Not Equal More Scholars
The Center for American Progress conducted a study on school district spending, performance, and efficiency and comes to the unremarkable conclusion that more resources are not directly correlated with higher test scores…
Media
Read More: Progressives Agree: More Dollars Do Not Equal More ScholarsEducation
More Evidence that School Choice Saves Tax Dollars
Reason’s 2010 Annual Privatization Report in Education highlights the savings states have enjoyed thanks to school choice. Since school vouchers and education tax credits are typically much lower than…
Media
Read More: More Evidence that School Choice Saves Tax DollarsHealth Care
Medicaid Reforms Start with the States
Medicaid spending threatens to consume the entire Pennsylvania state budget, and we aren’t alone. Without greater flexibility, states will be forced to cut services, raise taxes or drop out…
Media
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Spending Transparency Coming to Pennsylvania?
PennWATCH (House Bill 15), sponsored by Rep. Jim Christiana, would create a user-friendly database with searchable information on all state government spending. The bill passed the Pennsylvania House unanimously on…
Commentary
Read More: Spending Transparency Coming to Pennsylvania?Taxes & Economy
Environmentalists Blow Recent Rule Change out of Proportion
Reactions to the Corbett administration’s revoking of mandatory impact reports on state lands targeted for drilling fail to see the big picture. Comments from environmentalists imply that without an extra…
Media
Read More: Environmentalists Blow Recent Rule Change out of ProportionPublic Union Democracy
The Tide Against Public Sector Collective Bargaining
Earlier this week, I blogged on state bankruptcy and how some believe budget problems can be solved if states are willing to challenge the…
Media
Read More: The Tide Against Public Sector Collective BargainingEducation
Philly’s Anti-Defamation League Chapter Supports Vouchers
The Anti-Defamation League has a long history of opposing vouchers for public school students. As part of that tradition, they object on the principal of separation of church and state,…
Media
Read More: Philly’s Anti-Defamation League Chapter Supports VouchersState Budget
Is State Bankruptcy a Solution?
What do New York, California and Illinois have in common? They are in fiscal disarray and may soon be asking for a bailout from Congress. Bailing out these states would…
Media
Read More: Is State Bankruptcy a Solution?Government Accountability
Podcast: Talking Transparency
In the latest The BOX podcast, Senior Fellow Jeff Coleman sits down with Representative Jim Christiana after the unanimous passage of his transparency legislation in the State House.
Media
Read More: Podcast: Talking TransparencyTaxes & Economy
Green Energy Could Lead to More Blackouts
Recent controlled blackouts in Houston were reportedly caused by the inability of older fossil fuel power plants to operate in unusually cold temperatures. Now proponents of green energy are…
Media
Read More: Green Energy Could Lead to More BlackoutsHealth Care
Five Reasons Corbett Should Stop Implementing Obamacare
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett has indicated the state will continue to implement federal health care mandates, such as an an insurance exchange, at least for the time being. Here are…
Media
Read More: Five Reasons Corbett Should Stop Implementing ObamacareTaxes & Economy
A Tax by Any Name Should Still Smell Defeat
State Senator Gene Yaw is pitching a new natural gas tax. The idea is to allow local communities to include the value of natural gas in property tax assessments,…
Media
Read More: A Tax by Any Name Should Still Smell DefeatHealth Care
More Bad News for ObamaCare
After Judge Roger Vinson declared that the entire healthcare overhaul is unconstitutional, Heritage analyst Conn Carroll explained how the decision effectively stops implementation in states (including Pennsylvania) that…
Media
Read More: More Bad News for ObamaCareTaxes & Economy
Counties Lobby for Marcellus Tax (Fee)
This week, county officials repeatedly asked the Senate Majority Policy Committee for more revenue, principally from a “fee” on natural gas extraction. Of the 12 testifiers speaking on local…
Media
Read More: Counties Lobby for Marcellus Tax (Fee)Government Accountability
Spending Transparency on the Fast Track in PA
Yesterday, Rep. Christiana’s PennWATCH proposal passed the House State Government Committee along with a number of reform measures designed to bring more transparency to state spending. The legislation (HB 15) is scheduled…
Media
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Intern with CF this Summer
Are you a student or do you know a student looking to advance their career while advancing liberty? The IHS Charles G. Koch Summer Fellows Program provides summer…
Media
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