Government Accountability

Shrink or Grow the Size of Legislature

  • Nathan Benefield
  • October 8, 2009

NCSL’s blog, The Thicket, has a post up about debating reducing or growing the size of the legislature. Pennsylvania serves on the shrinking size, as that is an oft-cited…

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Who’s Blogging About Us

  • Nathan Benefield
  • October 7, 2009

Here are some recent blogs mentions Commonwealth Foundation work: Open Market, The Truth about PLAs, and The Truth About EFCA all comment on the…

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State Budget

House Democrats Help Identify More WAMs

  • Nathan Benefield
  • October 6, 2009

PA House Democrat leader Todd Eachus and Appropriations Chair Dwight Evans sent a letter to Gov. Rendell decrying the inclusion of $12 million in WAMs in the latest Senate…

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State Budget

Realities of Severance Tax

  • October 6, 2009

On Friday, the Pennsylvania House passed a tax bill with numerous tax hikes (and a few cuts).

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State Budget

PA House Approves More Debt for Pork

  • Nathan Benefield
  • October 5, 2009

Lost in the shuffle over the Pennsylvania state (operating) budget was a vote over the weekend over the state capital budget, which was approved by the Pennsylvania House. The…

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State Budget

“Big Helicopter” and Big Hollywood

  • Nathan Benefield
  • October 3, 2009

While debating their myriad of tax increases (which was eventually approved by the chamber), Pennsylvania House Democrats continued to demonize “Big…

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State Budget

What’s in the PA House Democrats Tax Bill?

  • Nathan Benefield
  • October 2, 2009

Yesterday, the Pennsylvania House Rules Committee approved a “gut-and-replace” amendment to HB 1531 – which had previously been a bill to extend tax relief for military families – which…

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State Budget

Pennsylvania Revenue Collections Fall Short Again

  • Nathan Benefield
  • October 2, 2009

The Pennsylvania Department of Revenue released their revenue estimates for September.  The collections were $119 million below estimates for the month, and $300 million less than collected one year…

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