State Budget

The State and Local Government Debt Mess

  • Nathan Benefield
  • June 4, 2010

While investment guru Warren Buffett is pulling out of municipal bonds, Gov. Rendell says Buffett doesn’t know what he is talking about, and that there is no problem with…

Media

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Regulation

Big Idea: Privatizing City Services

  • June 4, 2010

Sandy Springs, GA, is one of the most efficient cities in the country, as reported in the Tribune Review. Incorporated in 2005, it was the first fully privatized…

Media

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Regulation

Why PA Corporations Don’t Pay Taxes

  • Nathan Benefield
  • June 3, 2010

Gov. Rendell and his allies and shills that call on higher taxes for businesses like to claim that 70% of Pennsylvania corporations don’t pay…

Media

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Taxes & Economy

Presentation: Lessons of Fiscal Responsibility for Pennsylvania

  • Nathan Benefield
  • June 3, 2010

Maurice McTigue, Vice President at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, and a former member of the New Zealand Parliament, spoke at a Commonwealth Foundation breakfast yesterday.

Media

Read More: Presentation: Lessons of Fiscal Responsibility for Pennsylvania

Regulation

Pennsylvania Budget Facts 2010: Tobacco Taxes

  • June 2, 2010

Gov. Rendell proposed a tax of 30% on the retail price of cigars and smokeless tobacco products, in hopes of collecting $42 million in the upcoming fiscal year.

Fact Sheet

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State Budget

Pennsylvania State Budget Resources

  • June 2, 2010

Pennsylvania faces a projected General Fund tax revenue shortfall of at least $1 billion. Governor Rendell proposed a $29 billion General Fund budget for 2010-11 that increases businesses taxes, imposes…

Fact Sheet

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State Budget

Pennsylvania Budget Facts 2010: Unemployment Compensation

  • June 2, 2010

Pennsylvania has borrowed over $3 billion from the federal government to keep its unemployment compensation fund solvent. Only California, with three times the population and a much higher unemployment rate,…

Fact Sheet

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State Budget

Welfare Fraud and Abuse

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • June 2, 2010

Good afternoon, my name is Elizabeth Stelle, and I am a research associate with the Commonwealth Foundation for Public Policy Alternatives, a non-partisan educational institute based in Harrisburg. Thank you…

Testimony

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Government Accountability

Accurate Information About a Part-Time Legislature

  • Nathan Benefield
  • June 2, 2010

Senator Daylin Leach opined in the Post-Gazette over the weekend, defending the legislature he serves in (previously as a House member) against the Grand Jury report calling for…

Media

Read More: Accurate Information About a Part-Time Legislature