Taxes & Economy

Act 1 Property-to-Income Tax Shift

  • May 8, 2007

On May 15, 2007, voters across the Commonwealth will be asked to vote on a property-to-income tax shift to pay for public education expenditures. The Property Tax Relief Act of…

Fact Sheet

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Lawmakers reaped $50K-plus in freebies in ’06

  • Nathan Benefield
  • May 4, 2007

Mark Scolforo reports on the gifts and other financial interests report by lawmakers. Not suprisingly, legislative leaders cashed in (even while claiming they were not): House Majority Leader…

Media

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Nepotism at Turnpike Commission

  • Nathan Benefield
  • April 15, 2007

Tom Barnes in the Post-Gazette with a great story on nepotism and patronage at the Turnpike Commission. Rather than deny political favoritism in hiring (as they did last…

Media

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Tax subsidies needed to pay min. wage?

  • Nathan Benefield
  • April 14, 2007

I missed this story in the Philadelphia Inquirer last week. State Rep. (and Philadelphia mayoral candidate) Dwight Evans is working to get $820 million in state subsidy for the…

Media

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Privately Managed Schools in Philly Gain

  • Nathan Benefield
  • April 13, 2007

A new report by Paul Peterson at Harvard indicates that privately managed schools in Philadelphia had greater gains in PSSA scores than overall public schools and than “restructured” schools…

Media

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The Turnpike Strikes Back

  • Nathan Benefield
  • March 20, 2007

As a counter-proposal to lease, the Turnpike Commission proposes generating more revenue for transportation by: Putting Tolls on I-80 Putting “congestion tolls” on all Turnpike exits around Pittsburgh,…

Media

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More on House Reform

  • Nathan Benefield
  • March 14, 2007

Pete DeCoursey of Capitolwire (subscription) with a scathing column about the lack of propsects for real reform: If you wanted to see how much is changing in the…

Media

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Taxes & Economy

The Emerging Paradigm: Financing and Managing Pennsylvanias Transportation Infrastructure and Mass Transit

  • Matthew Brouillette
  • March 6, 2007

In November 2006, Governor Ed Rendell’s Pennsylvania Transportation Funding and Reform Commission identified a $1.7 billion annual shortfall in funding for the Commonwealth’s transportation infrastructure and mass transit services. The…

Report

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The Philadelphia Story

  • Nathan Benefield
  • February 23, 2007

Paul Peterson in today’s Wall Street Journal on the success of privately-managed public schools in Philadelphia.

Media

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