State Budget

Pennsylvania Has a Budget Deficit. So Why Are Taxpayers Funding Lobbyists?

  • Megan Martin
  • September 17, 2025

Originally published by RealClearPennsylvania. Should Pennsylvania taxpayers fund political lobbying efforts for taxpayer-funded organizations lobbying for more taxpayer funds? Not only is this practice misguided, but it’s also fundamentally wrong, blurring…

Media Hit

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State Budget

Shapiro’s Taxpayer-Funded Vanity

  • March 10, 2025

Gov. Josh Shapiro wants you to think he is a superhero. The governor released a new video, casting himself as a video-game fighter battling for Pennsylvanians against greed and…

Blog

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Education

Pennsylvania exports a lot — especially bad political leadership

  • Erik Telford
  • November 15, 2023

Originally published at Broad + Liberty As the nation’s sixth-largest manufacturing state, Pennsylvania exports a lot of things — from food and pharma to energy and defense. Unfortunately, as…

Media Hit

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Public Union Democracy

Reforms would reduce corruption and restore workers’ rights

  • Stephen Bloom
  • February 14, 2022

Originally published in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review In Harrisburg, lawmakers are building momentum for a series of reforms that will empower public sector workers and defend taxpayers. The House Labor…

Media Hit

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Government Accountability

Study: Pa. Taxpayers on Hook for at Least $42 Million in Lobbying Costs

  • December 6, 2021

December 6, 2021, Harrisburg, Pa.—Pennsylvania taxpayers paid for at least $42 million in lobbying expenses from 2007–2020, according to two reports released today by the Commonwealth Foundation. The $42 million…

Press Release

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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

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Earmarks Double to $120 Million in State Budget

  • Michael Torres
  • December 8, 2020

December 8, 2020, Harrisburg, Pa. — Pennsylvania lawmakers and Gov. Wolf used a shadowy process to bury $120 million of earmarks in the new state budget. That’s double last year’s…

Press Release

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Government Accountability

Top 10 PLCB Boondoggles

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • June 9, 2020

The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board has survived debacle after debacle. The closures around COVID-19 are just the most recent example of the PLCB's incompetence. Here are the top 10 PLCB…

Commentary

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