No Reason to Worry
Welcome to Common Sense Weekly! This is the Commonwealth Foundation’s weekly news roundup of policy issues debated in Harrisburg and across Pennsylvania.We have a new X handle! Follow @MyCommonwealth…
Blog
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Penn State faculty will get more than they bargain for with SEIU
Originally published by Centre Daily Press. Higher education’s future seems bleak. The national decline in enrollment has forced countless colleges and universities to tighten belts…
Media Hit
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Three Things Missing from Shapiro’s Budget
Most commentary about Gov. Josh Shapiro’s budget address focuses on what’s in his 2025–26 proposal. But what did the governor leave out? School Choice Shapiro, once again, omitted any reference…
Blog
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Government Unions are Down — But Not Out
Originally published at The American Spectator In 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court humbled public sector union officials accustomed to taking advantage of the public employees they were supposed to…
Media Hit
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The Battle for Worker Freedom: Grading State Public Sector Labor Laws
Key Findings The four largest government unions—American Federation of Teachers (AFT), American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), National Education Association (NEA), and Service Employees International Union (SEIU)—lost…
Executive Summary
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Government Union PAC Spending in 2023
Summary Pennsylvania government union political action committees (PACs) spent $5.6 million in 2023, a record high for an odd-year election where there is not a presidential or midterm election. Of…
Fact Sheet
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The Battle for Worker Freedom: How Government Unions Fund Politics
Key Findings The four largest government unions, the National Education Association (NEA), American Federation of Teachers (AFT), American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), and Service Employees International…
Executive Summary
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Parental activism and public support level the playing field as government unions block Lifelines to students in failing schools.
Originally published at Broad + Liberty When government union leaders sent a letter to elected officials urging them to oppose scholarships for low-income students, they left out that part…
Media Hit
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Assessing Gov. Tom Wolf’s Tenure
Key Points During Gov. Tom Wolf’s eight years in office, Pennsylvania ranked below the national average in income growth, job growth, and population growth.State government spending increased significantly under Wolf,…
Backgrounder
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