Embracing Innovation in State Government
Conventional governing is hampering Pennsylvania’s progress. Growing state budgets combined
with one-time revenue transfers and targeted tax hikes are delaying the structural reforms
essential to improving the quality of life for people who live and work in Pennsylvania.
Education Savings Accounts
Education Savings Accounts (ESA) empower parents to design the best educational experience for their children.
The Costs of Corporate Welfare
Of the last 46 state budgets, only one did not increase total spending. This explosion has been fueled in part by special subsidies doled out to select businesses, creating an economic system favoring the privileged few at the expense of everyone else.
Bringing Democracy to Pennsylvania Labor Unions
In the public’s eyes, labor unions have traditionally been the voice of working people. However, a closer look at how unions run their own organizations reveals a stunning lack of accountability by union leadership toward union members.
Opening the Curtain on Government Unions
Because such labor contracts involve billions of taxpayer dollars, citizens have a right to know what each side is proposing before being legally obligated to fund them. In addition, Pennsylvania should require state labor unions representing government workers to file annual financial reports demonstrating how union dues are spent.
Gov. Wolf's Proposed Property Tax Shift
As part of his 2015-16 budget proposal, Gov. Tom Wolf has proposed using some revenue from increased state taxes for school property tax relief beginning in 2016-17. This policy brief examines more closely the proposed tax shift.
Ten Thousand Lifeboats
In 2001, Pennsylvania became the first state in the nation to enact an education tax credit aimed at corporations. Since then, the popular Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) program has provided more than 430,000 scholarships to students from low- and middle-income families across the commonwealth seeking the right school for their child.
The Economic Impact of Gov. Corbett's Proposed Tax Reform
This policy brief utilizes PA-STAMP to estimate the impact of Gov. Corbett’s proposed tax reform package. Accordingly, by 2017-18, these reforms (compared with current policy) would result in: 1,259 additional private sector jobs, nearly $460 million in additional disposable income, and more than $1 billion in additional investment.
School Choice Toolkit
Children at Pennsylvania’s worst-performing schools are frequently subjected to acts of violence. In the worst 140+ schools alone, with some 80,000 children, students faced nearly 10,000 acts of violence in 2008-10, including robberies, rapes, riots, bomb threats and assaults. That’s a violent act every 17 minutes. In the bottom 5 percent of schools in the 2010-11 school year, only 32 percent of students were proficient in reading and 38 percent proficient in math on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA).
The solution? School choice saves. View the full School Choice Toolkit to find out how.
Fall 2011 Legislative Priorities
Fall 2011 Legislative Priorities.
