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

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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

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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

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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

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Education

Education Funding in the Commonwealth

  • January 10, 2024

Pennsylvania Outspends the Nation on Public Schools Pennsylvania ranks among the highest-spending states on public education. According to National Center for Education Statistics data, as of fiscal year (FY) 2021,…

Backgrounder

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Education

Lifeline and Education Choice Myths and Facts

  • January 4, 2024

Summary Lifeline Scholarships, also known as the Pennsylvania Award for Student Success (PASS) program, would offer scholarships ranging from $2,500 to $15,000 per year for students in the commonwealth’s lowest-performing…

Fact Sheet

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Education

Tax Credit Scholarships: An Investment in Educational Opportunity

  • December 19, 2023

Summary Pennsylvania scholarship organizations awarded 77,640 K–12 scholarships through the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) and Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit (OSTC) in the 2021–22 school year. The average 2021–22 scholarship…

Fact Sheet

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Public Union Democracy

The Battle for Worker Freedom: How Government Unions Fund Politics Across the Country

  • Andrew Holman, David Osborne
  • December 4, 2023

Key Findings The four largest government unions, the National Education Association (NEA), American Federation of Teachers (AFT), American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), and Service Employees International…

Executive Summary

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Education

2023 PSSA Scores Highlight the Need for Educational Opportunity

  • November 27, 2023

Summary The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) released Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) scores from spring 2023. Test results show that fourth- and eighth-grade students struggle to…

Fact Sheet

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Health Care

The Personal Option for Health Care in Pennsylvania

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • November 8, 2023

Summary Keep and expand the health care systems that work: Protect Direct Primary Care (DPC) practices. Allow expanded Association Health Plans (AHPs) so small businesses can offer more affordable coverage.

Backgrounder

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Regulation

How Overregulated Is Pennsylvania?

  • September 25, 2023

Summary Pennsylvania has a major problem: it’s dangerously overregulated. According to a September 2023 Commonwealth Foundation study, “Cutting Red Tape in Pennsylvania,” the Keystone State enforces a whopping 166,219…

Fact Sheet

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Regulation

Cutting Red Tape in Pennsylvania

  • James Broughel
  • September 18, 2023

This report presents findings from Mercatus Center’s State RegData database, analyzing regulations in the  Pennsylvania Code as of 2022. The report provides an overview of state regulations, how Pennsylvania’s regulatory…

Executive Summary

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Energy

Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) Mandates in Pennsylvania

  • Gordon Tomb
  • August 24, 2023

Key Points Studies show adopting Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) criteria is not associated with better labor or environmental regulatory compliance. Emerging studies show ESG criteria are associated with lower…

Backgrounder

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Public Union Democracy

Government Union Contracts Increase Again

  • August 22, 2023

Summary Pennsylvania elected officials routinely and secretly negotiate billion-dollar labor contracts with government union leaders from whom they often receive political donations. These labor contracts are a major cost of…

Fact Sheet

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Education

Pa. Back to School Public Education Trends

  • August 22, 2023

Overview As students head back to school, there are many claims of teacher shortages and funding shortfalls. In reality, public school spending is at a record high, and Pennsylvania ranks…

Backgrounder

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State Budget

Takeaways from the Unfinished 2023–24 State Budget

  • August 10, 2023

Summary The state budget remains unfinished. While Gov. Josh Shapiro signed off on the general appropriation bill (House Bill 611), authorizing more than $40 billion in state general fund spending,…

Fact Sheet

Read More: Takeaways from the Unfinished 2023–24 State Budget