State Budget

Pennsylvania Budget Deal Appears Dead

  • Nathan Benefield
  • September 30, 2009

The news service Capitolwire (subscribers only) is reporting that PA House Democrat leaders are admitting they don’t have enough votes to pass the state budget deal, give all of…

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State Budget

Taxes and Revenue in Pennsylvania Budget Deal

  • Nathan Benefield
  • September 19, 2009

Gov. Rendell and legislative leaders from three caucuses (House Republicans were not involved) announced a deal on the Pennsylvania state budget.  Via PLS and Capitolwire (subscription), here…

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State Budget

PA Senate GOP Caving on Tax Hikes?

  • Nathan Benefield
  • September 10, 2009

John Micek reports that there may be a compromise coming in the Pennsylvania state budget, but surprisingly (to me) it is not the $27.5 billion plan outlined by…

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Health Care

Scrutinize the Health Care Bill

  • Nathan Benefield
  • August 17, 2009

We’ve gotten a few calls over the last few days asking where to get and read the 1,200 page health care bill being debated in Congress.  Here are some resources:…

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State Budget

How Much Did Pennsylvania Spend Last Year?

  • Nathan Benefield
  • July 23, 2009

Here is a simple question: Given we have closed the books on last year’s state budget for three weeks, how much did  Pennsylvania spend last year?  Unfortunately, the answer isn’t…

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State Budget

Is Rendell Lying About State Police Layoffs?

  • Nathan Benefield
  • July 1, 2009

Gov. Rendell has been quoted on numerous occasions claiming the budget passed by the Pennsylvania Senate last month would result in the layoff of 800 state police.  We pointed out…

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Taxes & Economy

Speaker McCall Throws Support behind Income Tax Hike

  • June 23, 2009

Pressured by a looming June 30th budget deadline and Gov. Ed Rendell’s economic team, House Speaker Keith McCall of Carbon County announced yesterday his support for a 16% increase…

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Taxes & Economy

Budget deficit was predicted, and ignored.

  • June 2, 2009

This was our blog post from July 04, 2008…yes, Independence Day, but also the day Gov. Ed Rendell signed the 2008-09 budget despite clear evidence that it was unrealistic in…

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Taxes & Economy

Is tolling I-80 dead?

  • Nathan Benefield
  • February 20, 2009

Some of the Turnpike Commissioners think that tolling I-80 across PA remains a strong possibility, and that the federal government did not “reject” the tolling plan.  See the…

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