Public Union Democracy

Paycheck Protection is About Morality, not Cost

• February 17, 2015

It is a principle of good government that electoral politics are not mixed with official government business. Yet state and local governments in Pennsylvania continue to collect political campaign funds…

Commentary

Podcast: PA Teachers Talk Pension Reform

• July 29, 2014

Often lost in the public pension reform debate raging across the state are the viewpoints of public school teachers themselves. That’s why our Senior Policy Analyst Priya Abraham recently interviewed…

Media

Public Union Democracy

Teacher-Backed Paycheck Protection Bill Moves in State House

• June 23, 2014

For Immediate Release Commonwealth Foundation Contact: 717-671-1901 Lawmakers Move to Empower Teachers, Public Employees with Paycheck Protection PA Teachers Urge Bill's Passage in New Ad Campaign June…

Press Release

Teachers Urge Reform of Pension System

• June 18, 2014

With Pennsylvania’s pension system for public school employees some $33 billion in debt, lawmakers are looking for ways to save a system that could add an additional $900…

Media

Education

Why I Left Teaching: Union Politics

• June 17, 2014

I taught science full-time for more than two decades and enjoyed a rewarding career educating a generation of public school students in Westmoreland County. I retired from teaching earlier than…

Commentary

Education

Pension Reform Benefits Teachers & Taxpayers

• Nathan Benefield
• May 30, 2014

Standard & Poor’s recently issued a stern warning that they would lower Pennsylvania’s bond rating—making it more expensive for the state to borrow money—unless they “adopt meaningful pension reform.” This…

Commentary

Regulation

End Special Subsidies to Lower Taxes for All

• Elizabeth Stelle
• February 26, 2014

Taxpayers have spent millions on four different occasions to subsidize the infamous “Sony site” in Westmoreland County. In the 1970’s Volkswagen got $70 million in state aid under Gov.

Media

Criminal Justice Reform

Milestone Corrections Reform Offers Taxpayer Savings

• January 9, 2013

On the heels of Pennsylvania’s historic decline in prison population—the largest one-year decline in four decades—the Department of Corrections announced today the imminent closure of two older prisons.

Media

Regulation

Growing Pennsylvania’s Economy

• September 19, 2012

Testimony of Katrina M. Currie to Pennsylvania House Finance Committee, September 19, 2012 Good afternoon, my name is Katrina Currie; I am a policy analyst for the Commonwealth Foundation, Pennsylvania’s…

Testimony