Robert O’Donnell
Education Senior Fellow
The Honorable Robert W. O’Donnell is an Education Senior Fellow with the Commonwealth Foundation.
Bob is a Philadelphia-based attorney and a former Democratic Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. As a member of the House for 19 years, Bob rose through the ranks of leadership, serving as caucus chairman, majority whip, majority leader, and Speaker of the House. While in public service, he developed a reputation as a thoughtful, dynamic, and intellectually honest member of the House. He has been a consistent advocate for equality of opportunity including supporting school choice throughout his tenure in the legislature.
Bob has served as a member of Public Employees Retirement Study Commission, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh, the Board of Trustees of the University of Pittsburgh, the Mayor’s Tax Budget and Advisory Committee (Philadelphia), the Chesapeake Bay Commission, the General State Authority, the Mayor’s Economic Recovery Task Force (Philadelphia), the Millrite Council, and the Philadelphia Port Corporation Board of Directors.
He is a graduate of Temple University and its law school and attended The Hague Academy of International Law. Arcadia College and Philadelphia University awarded Bod honorary degrees, and he has received several public awards including citations from the Pennsylvania League of Cities Service and Common Cause.
Bob resides in Chestnut Hill with his wife, Dr. Donna Gentile O’Donnell.
Regulation
Entrepreneurs Speak Out Against the PLCB
Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) partisans are quick to defend the agency as an asset for the state, but the PLCB’s finances—and the entrepreneurs who deal with the booze bureaucracy—tell a different story. On the financial front, the board reported $117 million in net…
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A Way Out of Budget Gridlock
With budget traffic at a standstill, how do we press through the roadblock to a resolution that benefits all Pennsylvanians?…
Commentary
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Listen: Telephone Townhall on PA Budget and More
Matt Brouillette and Rich Zeoli of Talk Radio 1210 WPHT answer questions about the Pennsylvania budget during a telephone town hall. Matt explains how Gov. Wolf's tax plan that would smack…
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Letters: Fattah charges political revenge
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Truth lacking on Tom Wolf’s ‘Schools That Teach’ tour (letter)
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Silly Talk with Gov. Wolf
Gov. Tom Wolf appeared on Radio Smart Talk yesterday morning. He mostly danced around host Scott LaMar's questions—claiming “You don't know what I’ve been supporting” on pension reform, and…
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Could Coal’s Savior be PA’s Legislature?
180 workers in CONSOL Energy’s coal division recently lost their jobs. Now, Pennsylvania’s legislature may be the only thing standing between the Obama administration and complete destruction of the…
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Discouraging Signs in York City
The consequences of Gov. Tom Wolf’s lock-step fealty to public sector union interests are being felt across the state and particularly in York City—where one of Wolf’s…
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Union Politicking Shows Need for Mary’s Law
Political mailers supporting candidates are par for the course during elections—unless those mailers are sent by government unions and funded with members’ dues. Then, they’re illegal. But that didn’t stop…
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The Elephant in Gov. Wolf’s Reception Room
A few recent articles and editorials have directed attention to political contributions by gas drillers, while ignoring a far larger and more powerful interest group—government unions. The fact is, political spending…
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Gov. Wolf’s Agenda is Hurting PA Families
Abby and Micah Dunn are raising their three young boys in central Pennsylvania. Families like the Dunns will see a $1,400 tax increase if Gov. Wolf gets the tax…
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Truth Lacking on ‘Schools That Teach’ Tour
Gov. Wolf’s 'Schools That Teach' public relations tour and statewide ad campaigns supporting him aren’t telling voters the truth about the budget impasse or the governor's tax proposal.
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Pittsburgh Mayor Peduto Warns Wolf on Pension Bonds
This week, Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto criticized Gov. Wolf’s plan to sell $3 billion in pension obligation bonds. In a meeting with editors and reporters from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review,…
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Which States Have the Biggest Tax Increases?
Previously, we blogged on how Gov. Wolf’s tax proposal raises more revenue than the tax proposals in the 49 other states combined. To put this another way, Wolf’s $4.6 billion tax increase is nearly $4 billion more…
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Pay No Attention to Those Tax Increases!
The liberal Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center—an arm of the union-funded Keystone Research Center—has a new claim that Gov. Wolf's “property tax relief” is similiar to that in a bill passed…
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When Will Gov. Wolf Compromise?
My letter to the editor in the Times Leader today takes Gov. Wolf to task for claiming to compromise, while still insisting on his sales and income tax increases—the largest tax…
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Principles for Liquor Privatization 2015
Key Points: Government should permanently get out of the business of selling alcohol and end the system in which state-run liquor stores compete against private business. Modernization fails to move…
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Rand Paul’s ‘Economic Freedom Zone’ a fix for western PA?
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Wolf Truth Squad: The Dirty Dozen
Gov. Tom Wolf is touring the state, touting an energy tax for education—while omitting several important facts. He’s not mentioning that a severance tax will hurt real people with…
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Letter to the Editor: Commonwealth Foundation donors have a right to stay secret
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