State Budget
Corporate Welfare in the 2024–25 Budget
Summary Pennsylvania’s economy is largely uncompetitive, with the state routinely losing businesses and residents to more economically competitive states like Florida, North Carolina, and Texas. Gov. Josh Shapiro’s budget proposes…
Read More: Corporate Welfare in the 2024–25 BudgetPennsylvania’s complex state budget has enabled policymakers to keep taxpayers in the dark when it comes to state spending. Year after year, some elected officials use budget gimmicks to both make the budget appear balanced and to secure their own agendas. Pennsylvanians deserve reforms that bring true transparency to the budgeting process. We must limit spending growth to a sustainable rate, ensuring the state government—like hardworking taxpayers—live within its means.
2024 state budget resources
State Budget
State Can Build on Tax Reform Boom
To attract the investment and job creators that will secure our future, we can—and must—do better. Luckily, lawmakers have the blueprint they need to make our state competitive: Control spending…
Commentary
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Common EITC and OSTC Misconceptions
“A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes.” This saying is even more true in the internet age. Case in point: recent falsehoods…
Media
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Five Things Lawmakers Should Know About the State Budget Deal
Less than a week before the start of the 2019-20 fiscal year, legislative leaders unveiled a proposed state budget—including both the spending and revenue outline, and several policy changes that…
Media
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Future Growth Depends on Today’s Lawmakers
Federal tax cuts made Pennsylvania’s current economic growth possible, but state reform could make it sustainable. Today Pennsylvanians are enjoying $866 million in surplus state revenue, an all-time low unemployment rate,…
Media
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Lawmakers Show Signs of Budget Restraint
When state revenues outpace spending there’s always a temptation to spend more—in fact, even when revenues fall short…
Media
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Fiscal Forgetfulness
Next year the governor wants to spend $1.4 billion more than he requested for this year, according to his recent budget proposal. Separately he’ll need as much as $750 million…
Media
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The Shadow Budget Comes to Light
The shadow budget is coming into the light in an unlikely way this…
Media
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Making Bad Investments Won’t Restore PA
Governor Wolf’s Restore PA plan utilizes a natural gas severance tax and borrowing to fund infrastructure improvements. There’s a better way to improve our infrastructure.
Memo
Read More: Making Bad Investments Won’t Restore PAState Budget
Harrisburg’s Notoriously Big Choice
“More money, more problems.” It seems that Pennsylvania lawmakers and The Notorious B.I.G. may have found some common ground. Surplus revenues have been a hot topic since the Independent Fiscal…
Media
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High Taxes Are Driving Pa.’s ‘Brain Drain’
If life is a highway, then Pennsylvanians are using it to drive to other states. This is especially true for young Pennsylvanians…
Media
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Federal Tax Reform: A Pennsylvania Gold Rush
After centuries of hopeless panning and prospecting, gold has finally been discovered right here in Harrisburg. The historic find weighs in…
Media
Read More: Federal Tax Reform: A Pennsylvania Gold RushCriminal Justice Reform
Up, Up, and Away: Snapshots from Wolf’s Budget
Soon lawmakers in Harrisburg will begin debating the 2019-2020 budget and what to do with excess revenue from the booming economy. Here’s your two-minute summary of the budget situation and…
Media
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Failure to Save Now Means Tax Hikes Later
Anyone who’s had to pinch a few pennies knows this to be true: Failure to save in good years means you’re not prepared for the bad ones. This is a…
Media
Read More: Failure to Save Now Means Tax Hikes LaterCriminal Justice Reform
Four Ways Lawmakers Are Setting Up Pa. For Success
Freedom and opportunity are on the move in the Keystone State. In the past week, lawmakers have taken four serious strides for the families and business owners of Pennsylvania. We’re…
Media
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Tax Reforms Not Football Will Keep People in Pa.
The Steelers may not be the most recent Pennsylvania team to win a Super Bowl, but that doesn’t stop them from having the second highest out-of-state fan base. The…
Media
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Protecting Pa.’s Future: The Taxpayer Protection Act
Pennsylvanians currently owe more than $128 billion in state and local debt—an astounding $10,015 for every man, woman, and child. Yet, our state government is raking in more revenue from…
Media
Read More: Protecting Pa.’s Future: The Taxpayer Protection ActCriminal Justice Reform
Moving Toward Efficient, Effective Criminal Justice
The economy is growing, but Pennsylvania just keeps sinking deeper into debt. Since 1970, we’ve tripled our overall operating budget—but our population has grown only 8 percent. Even adjusting for…
Media
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Gov. Wolf Blinded to Benefits of School Choice
Gov. Wolf’s 2019 budget promotes public and private options for pre-K and post-secondary education. He calls Pennsylvania’s post-secondary institutions “laboratories for innovation.” Most remarkably, the governor touts Pennsylvania Higher…
Media
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It’s Time to Tackle Debt
An ostrich burying its head in the sand is a classic analogy for avoiding difficult decisions. Though this is a mischaracterization—their heads are buried to protect their eggs from predators—the metaphor…
Media
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Rein in Spending, So Pa.’s Economy Can Race
My daughter recently started horseback riding lessons. She’s learning how to hold the reins with enough give for the horse to move but tight enough that the horse follows her directions. Like…
Media
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The Taxpayer Protection Act: An Updated Legislator’s Guide
Pennsylvanians pay $4,589 per person in state and local taxes, which equals 10.2 percent of residents’ total income. This trend must be reversed by restraining spending growth through long-term reforms…
Fact Sheet
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