Welfare
Medicaid Eligibility Matters
Originally published at RealClearPennsylvania Should a health-care program for low-income seniors, the disabled, kids, and pregnant mothers be co-opted by hundreds of thousands of healthy adults? Adults not even…
Read More: Medicaid Eligibility MattersThe continued growth in public welfare spending is unsustainable. The federal government is responsible for much of the welfare system, but states can adopt reforms that preserve welfare resources for the most vulnerable. By enacting reforms that promote work and independence, Pennsylvania can right-size state welfare spending and help more Pennsylvanians get back on their feet. Taxpayers deserve a welfare system that compliments a strong economy.
State Budget
Human Services Programs Must Deal with Wasteful Spending
Last week, you couldn’t swing a dead cat in the state capitol without hitting someone protesting Gov. Corbett’s welfare spending reductions. The governor proposed combining six human service line items, such…
Media
Read More: Human Services Programs Must Deal with Wasteful SpendingTaxes & Economy
Chart of the Day: Welfare Overlap
The Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare (DPW) encompasses much more than Food Stamps and Medicaid. There are numerous federally-funded and state-only aid programs. In fact, most of the 2.7 million…
Media
Read More: Chart of the Day: Welfare OverlapState Budget
Chart of the Day: Welfare Spending
Total welfare spending in Pennsylvania more than tripled from 1991 to 2012, rising 227 percent. During the same period (1991-2011) population rose by a paltry 6.7 percent. It goes without…
Media
Read More: Chart of the Day: Welfare SpendingState Budget
5 Scary Facts about Pennsylvania’s Welfare Spending
Welfare spending in Pennsylvania is out of control. The Department of Public Welfare is now the largest department in the state. It will continue to crowd out education, environmental…
Media
Read More: 5 Scary Facts about Pennsylvania’s Welfare SpendingState Budget
Pennsylvania Welfare Spending
The FY 2011-12 total operating budget of $63.4 billion, which included $27.1 billion in General Fund spending, represented the first year-to-year reduction in state spending in at least 40 years.
Fact Sheet
Read More: Pennsylvania Welfare SpendingTaxes & Economy
Report Finds Pennsylvania Welfare System Unsustainable, Hurting Poor
The Commonwealth Foundation released today an alarming new report on Pennsylvania public welfare that finds widespread abuse of tax dollars, with spending growing faster than the economy and exceeding education…
Press Release
Read More: Report Finds Pennsylvania Welfare System Unsustainable, Hurting PoorHealthcare
Ending the Cycle: Reforming Welfare in Pennsylvania
Government welfare, with its goal to provide a helping hand to those in need, has instead become a vast series of programs that fall far short of the good intentions…
Report
Read More: Ending the Cycle: Reforming Welfare in PennsylvaniaRegulation
Pennsylvania State Budget Background & 2012 Preview
The FY 2011-12 total operating budget of $63.4 billion, which included $27.1 billion in General Fund spending, represented the first year-to-year reduction in state spending in at least 40 years.
Fact Sheet
Read More: Pennsylvania State Budget Background & 2012 PreviewWelfare
Even Big Government Advocates Understand the Welfare Trap
Big government lobbyists and CF don’t agree on much with welfare, but funnily enough, even they acknowledge that Pennsylvania’s welfare system keeps people in poverty. It [a food…
Media
Read More: Even Big Government Advocates Understand the Welfare TrapWelfare
Yes, Welfare is for Poor People
The Department of Public Welfare announced its plan to impose an asset test for food stamp recipients. The proposal would limit food stamps to most households with under $5,500…
Media
Read More: Yes, Welfare is for Poor PeopleTaxes & Economy
The “Facts” on Food Stamps
City Paper contributor Daniel Denvir tries to diminish the impact of our Philadelphia Inquirer column on food stamps by offering “facts” in rebuttal. Unfortunately, most of these “facts”…
Media
Read More: The “Facts” on Food StampsTaxes & Economy
SNAP Back to Reality, Senators
Courtesy of the Pennsylvania Senate Democrats’ Twitter, @PaSenateDems, comes some high-stakes rhetoric during a Capitol press conference today. In reaction to the Pa. Department of Public Welfare’s decision to reapply…
Media
Read More: SNAP Back to Reality, SenatorsTaxes & Economy
Welfare Reforms Protect Poor, Taxpayers
Regardless of where you stand on taxpayer-funded entitlements, few Americans argue against the maintenance of temporary safety nets or modifications aimed at ending welfare fraud, waste and abuse.
Commentary
Read More: Welfare Reforms Protect Poor, TaxpayersTaxes & Economy
Do Millionaires Need Food Stamps?
For the past few years, politicians in Harrisburg and Washington have considered it a “success” to put more families on welfare. The result is an abundance of loopholes that allow…
Media
Read More: Do Millionaires Need Food Stamps?Welfare
Protecting Medicaid for the Poor
The Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare has trimmed Pennsylvania’s Medicaid rolls by 150,000 people since August. Welfare spending advocates and organizations receiving welfare dollars…
Media
Read More: Protecting Medicaid for the PoorWelfare
Getting Serious About Welfare Abuse
The Department of Public Welfare’s effort to curb fraud and abuse continues. This week the Department announced the creation of a new office, the Office of Program Integrity. This…
Media
Read More: Getting Serious About Welfare AbuseTaxes & Economy
100,000+ Improperly Get Pa. Med Benefits
Yesterday, the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare testified that hundreds of thousands of individuals were improperly receiving Medicaid, taxpayer-funded health care for the poor and the disabled. Capitolwire writes:…
Media
Read More: 100,000+ Improperly Get Pa. Med BenefitsWelfare
Welfare Funds for Home Bowling Alley
What do bowling alleys, chandeliers, and six-person hot tubs have in common? They’ve all been purchased with state welfare funds. Yesterday Tim Costa, executive deputy secretary of the Department of…
Media
Read More: Welfare Funds for Home Bowling AlleyTaxes & Economy
Welfare Fraud Persists
The LIHEAP heating assistance program is once again under fire from Auditor General Jack Wagner. A 2007 audit lead the district attorney of Philadelphia to charge 18 people with…
Media
Read More: Welfare Fraud PersistsGovernment Accountability
PA House Passes Four Reform Bills this Week
The Pennsylvania State House has been especially productive this week, passing four pieces of key legislation that CF blogged on last week.
Media
Read More: PA House Passes Four Reform Bills this WeekTaxes & Economy
House Republicans Introduce Welfare Reforms
Public Welfare is both the largest—at over $27 billion in total spending— and among the fastest growing programs in the Pennsylvania state budget. In…
Media
Read More: House Republicans Introduce Welfare Reforms