Taxes & Economy

Minimum Wage

• March 23, 2023

Summary One percent of Pennsylvania workers earn the minimum wage, an all-time low.Gov. Josh Shapiro proposed raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour. Recent analysis by Pennsylvania’s Independent Fiscal…

Fact Sheet

Education

Opportunity Unleashed

• Marc LeBlond, Stefanie Mason
• February 15, 2022

Key Points In June 2019, Pennsylvania’s General Assembly expanded the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) and Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit (OSTC) programs by a combined $30 million. In the 2019-20…

Backgrounder

Government Accountability

How Pa. Governments Use Tax Dollars to Pay Contract Lobbyists

• Elizabeth Stelle, Jessica Barnett
• December 1, 2021

Prohibiting local governments and government agencies from diverting public funds to these associations would increase transparency and prevent taxpayers’ dollars from funding lobbying harmful to taxpayers.

Backgrounder

Commonwealth Foundation Congratulates New House Leadership

• June 24, 2020

June 24, 2020, Harrisburg, Pa. —  Following the retirement of House Speaker Mike Turzai, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives’ elected a new Speaker and several new members of the majority…

Press Release

Government Accountability

Three Steps to an Honest Budget: Fiscal Reform Priorities 2020-2021

• Andrew Abramczyk
• February 16, 2020

Our legislative roadmap to a balanced budget, a spending limit and a more transparent fiscal process.

Fact Sheet

Government Accountability

Budget Earmarks: Sneaky and Unconstitutional

• Andrew Abramczyk, Jessica Barnett
• July 12, 2019

A wise buyer should always read the fine print, but it isn’t easy. Documents like cell phone contracts and software user agreements can be hard to read, often by design. The dense language…

Media

Crucial Reform Needed from Harrisburg as Tax Day Approaches

• April 11, 2019

April 11, 2019, Harrisburg, Pa.—Tax Day may be April 15th, but Americans will be working one more day before they’ve earned enough to pay their national, state, and local tax…

Press Release

Education

Thorough and Efficient System of Public Education

• James Paul
• September 21, 2016

“The General Assembly shall provide for the maintenance and support of a thorough and efficient system of public education to serve the…

Media

Did Legislation in 2010 Fix the Pension Crisis?

• May 8, 2013

This post originally ran in Commonwealth Foundation’s PolicyBlog. For more on pensions, see the timeline of the crisis, common myths vs. facts, and what your pension…

Media