High taxes make for a slow-growing economy. And communities feel the pinch of high taxes as more and more native Pennsylvanians leave the Keystone State to prosper elsewhere. To remain economically competitive, Pennsylvania must lower state taxes and ensure businesses have the opportunity to succeed. Lower taxes will incentivize more individuals to call Pennsylvania their home, ultimately spurring our statewide economy forward.

Regulation

Telecommunications

  • October 14, 2004

The debate over the future of high-tech communications development in Pennsylvania parallels the debate over statewide economic development policy in general: Should state government raise taxes on families and businesses…

Fact Sheet

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Taxes & Economy

Some truth in advertising, please!

  • September 21, 2004

As visitors to Harrisburg approach the State Capitol, they'll likely notice a number of quotations from luminaries of Pennsylvania history--including William Penn and Benjamin Franklin--testifying to the virtue of liberty.

Commentary

Read More: Some truth in advertising, please!

Taxes & Economy

Liberty: The Highest Political End

  • Matthew Brouillette
  • September 15, 2004

Mark Twain supposedly once quipped that "No man's life, liberty or property are safe while the Legislature is in session." He must have had the Pennsylvania General Assembly in mind.

Commentary

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Taxes & Economy

Taxing the Internet

  • July 29, 2004

Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee, for the invitation to testify today on legislation concerning the “Streamlined Sales Tax Project.”…

Commentary

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Taxes & Economy

Renounce the “Faith”

  • Matthew Brouillette
  • June 15, 2004

Politicians are fond of saying, "Government doesn't create jobs, the private sector does." Yet the machinations of state and federal government--and the news releases that follow--reveal that most politicians truly…

Commentary

Read More: Renounce the “Faith”

State Budget

The High Cost of Fiscally Responsible Compassion

  • June 8, 2004

For the naysayers of disciplined and effective government spending, the Pennsylvania House Appropriations Committee has published “Republican Stewardship of State Government: 1995-2003.” Complete with a tagline, “Meeting the Challenge with…

Commentary

Read More: The High Cost of Fiscally Responsible Compassion

Education

Pennsylvania Needs School Board Rent Control

  • Matthew Brouillette
  • June 2, 2004

Pennsylvanians are once again being reminded this spring that they never actually own their homes; they only “rent” them from their local school board. As school districts across the commonwealth…

Commentary

Read More: Pennsylvania Needs School Board Rent Control

Education

Referendum: School Taxes

  • May 11, 2004

Pennsylvania homeowners lack the right to vote on school property tax increases, while citizens in 44 other states enjoy some form of taxpayer protection. As Pennsylvania legislators debate whether or…

Fact Sheet

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Taxes & Economy

Closing Loopholes to Tighten the Noosehole

  • April 21, 2004

Two leading Pennsylvania House Democrats are taking aim at the Commonwealth’s surviving corporate taxpayers. Reps. Mike Veon and David Levdansky say that legal provisions in the tax code—“loopholes” in their…

Commentary

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Regulation

“OutFORCING”: Pennsylvania’s Real Job Loss Culprit

  • Matthew Brouillette
  • April 12, 2004

There’s been a great deal of political talk this election season about greedy “Benedict Arnold” companies sending jobs overseas. Gov. Ed Rendell even announced that the Commonwealth would look unfavorably…

Commentary

Read More: “OutFORCING”: Pennsylvania’s Real Job Loss Culprit

Taxes & Economy

Taxpayers to Subsidize Risks of Venture Capitalists

  • March 31, 2004

As the Republican-led Pennsylvania General Assembly considers a “compromise” version of Gov. Ed Rendell’s so-called “economic stimulus” package, The Commonwealth Foundation declared it to be another step backward for the…

Commentary

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Taxes & Economy

Pennsylvania’s Great Rail Disasters

  • February 24, 2004

Every Pennsylvanian agrees that traffic congestion and air pollution are hardly good or desirable things for our cities. But there is much less agreement on what strategies should be used…

Commentary

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Taxes & Economy

Bail on These Bonds

  • Matthew Brouillette
  • February 9, 2004

If Pennsylvania is the next state to tax, borrow or spend its way to prosperity, it will also be the first. The historical and economic reality is that government is…

Commentary

Read More: Bail on These Bonds

Health Care

Diagnosis Litigation

  • Matthew Brouillette
  • February 1, 2004

Despite a number of obstacles limiting access to affordable insurance, America’s healthcare system remains the envy of the world. But as the current medical malpractice insurance epidemic raging across the…

Commentary

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Taxes & Economy

Hang Up on the Cell Phone Tax!

  • December 9, 2003

Pennsylvania policymakers frequently talk about building and nurturing a hightech economy in the Commonwealth—yet the latest effort to raise taxes on the wireless telephone industry reveals that many of them…

Commentary

Read More: Hang Up on the Cell Phone Tax!