Research

Education

2024–25 State Budget Analysis

• July 12, 2024

Key Points Pennsylvania’s $47.6 billion 2024–25 budget creates a $3.6 billion structural deficit. This will exhaust General Fund reserves, which will require draining from the Rainy Day fund—illegally—or raising taxes…

Fact Sheet

Energy

Pa. Travelers’ Guide: Summer Gasoline Prices

• Hanna Bechtel
• July 5, 2024

Pennsylvania’s June average gasoline price was higher than all its neighbor states except New York. While Pennsylvania’s gasoline price has decreased from its 2022 record high, the long-term picture shows…

Backgrounder

Education

Child Learning Investment Tax Credit

• July 3, 2024

Summary Last year, lawmakers approved the Child and Dependent Care Enhancement Tax Credit and a $66.7 million increase for child-care subsidies. Pennsylvania lawmakers are looking for ways to lower…

Fact Sheet

Education

Governor Josh Shapiro “Ain’t Got Sh*t Done”

• July 1, 2024

Overview Governor Josh Shapiro has made “Get Sh*t Done,” profanity and all, the official slogan of his administration, but when it comes to legislative accomplishments, his governing abilities have…

Fact Sheet

Education

The High Cost of Pa. K–12 Education Failures

• June 28, 2024

Key Points The cost and risk of failure in our K–12 system is high. Low academic achievement is a predictor of lower lifetime incomes and higher costs for taxpayers. On…

Backgrounder

Energy

Energizing Federalism: Defending Pennsylvania from Anti-Energy Policies 

• André Béliveau
• June 24, 2024

Summary The Commonwealth Foundation joins several energy policy groups in two coalition letters opposing the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) latest power plant rule and the PROVE IT Act.

Fact Sheet

State Budget

Proposed Tax Cuts and the 2024 State Budget

• May 28, 2024

Key Points A responsible budget in fiscal year (FY) 2024–25 must grapple with Pennsylvania’s aging and shrinking workforce challenges through sound tax and regulatory reform. State Senate Republicans proposed two…

Fact Sheet

Education

Pa. School Funding Reaches $22,000 per Student in 2023

• May 20, 2024

Pennsylvania Public School Spending Is Growing Over the last decade, state spending on Pennsylvania public schools reached all-time highs year after year. Pennsylvania per-pupil public school funding increased to $21,985…

Fact Sheet

Find Your School District’s Reserves

• May 15, 2024

Use the table below to see your school district’s total reserves.

Research

Public Union Democracy

Shapiro’s Project Labor Agreement Mandate

• April 15, 2024

Summary Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) are pre-hire agreements between the government and a contractor that outline the terms and conditions for a certain project. Gov. Josh Shapiro wrote to state…

Fact Sheet

Regulation

Regulatory Reforms Stalled in State House

• April 4, 2024

Summary Gov. Josh Shapiro’s PAyback permit rebate program is a step forward. But alone, it is insufficient to fix Pennsylvania’s above-average regulatory burden. The governor says he wants to…

Fact Sheet

Energy

PACER & PRESS Analysis

• André Béliveau
• April 1, 2024

Overview Gov. Josh Shapiro campaigned on a healthy skepticism of carbon taxes before proposing his own carbon tax scheme. His new energy agenda centers around the Pennsylvania Climate…

Fact Sheet

Energy

Avoiding Deadly Blackouts

• David Wojick
• March 25, 2024

Summary Pennsylvania urgently needs a plan to restore grid reliability and prevent electricity blackouts from extreme cold weather. Winter Storm Elliot in 2022 almost brought widespread blackouts, but it was…

Fact Sheet

Public Union Democracy

Government Union PAC Spending in 2023

• Andrew Holman
• March 13, 2024

Summary Pennsylvania government union political action committees (PACs) spent $5.6 million in 2023, a record high for an odd-year election where there is not a presidential or midterm election. Of…

Fact Sheet

Education

Higher Education in Pennsylvania

• March 12, 2024

Summary Pennsylvania owns and operates 10 universities under the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE); subsidizes four state-related universities (which function as public-private partnerships); 15 community…

Fact Sheet

Public Union Democracy

State of the Unions: Examining Union Membership in State Government

• Andrew Holman, David Osborne
• March 11, 2024

Key Findings Public sector labor unions in 33 states represent state government employees, a segment of overall public sector employment, for purposes of collective bargaining. For this research, 27 of…

Executive Summary

State Budget

Corporate Welfare in the 2024–25 Budget

• March 7, 2024

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…

Fact Sheet

State Budget

Shapiro’s Structural Deficit

• February 28, 2024

Summary Gov. Josh Shapiro proposed a $48.3 billion 2024–25 General Fund budget, a $3 billion or 7.1 percent spending increase compared to last year’s ongoing general fund spending. The proposal…

Fact Sheet

Health Care

Health Care Myths and Facts

• February 12, 2024

Summary Pennsylvanians want personalized, flexible, accessible, and cost-effective health care. Market-based reforms to make price information available, expand telemedicine, and modernize Pennsylvania’s Nursing Law can reduce health care costs and…

Fact Sheet

Education

Key Takeaways from Governor’s 2024 Budget Proposal

• Nathan Benefield
• February 7, 2024

Key Points Gov. Josh Shapiro’s startling spending increases and myriad of new initiatives would explode the budget deficit and invite massive tax hikes on working families in the coming years.

Backgrounder

Education

Lifeline Scholarship Program/PASS

• January 30, 2024

Overview Lifeline Scholarships, also known as the Pennsylvania Award for Student Success (PASS) program, would offer an Education Opportunity Account (EOA) to any student assigned to a school ranked in…

Fact Sheet