Bad Ideas Under Any Label
We are hearing that some of the provisions in a House school code bill, HB530, are being included in...
read more
Boom and Bust: Lessons From the Gas Patch
In 2011, the town of Towanda in Bradford County was at the epicenter of the shale drilling boom. A...
read more
Revenue Options Real and Fake: A Minimum Wage Increase and Gaming Expansion
Ten years ago was the last time Pennsylvania raised the minimum wage in advance of the federal government doing...
read more
The Emperor’s New Liquor Stores
Act 39 flew through the House of Representatives and was signed by Governor Wolf too fast for us, and...
read more
School Funding: What One Hand Gives Another Takes Away
As this dispiriting budget season ends, advocates for education could at least be grateful that the General Assembly seems...
read more
Some Things Are Worse Than a Late Budget
As the June 30th deadline looms, we have little more than rumors about what kind of Pennsylvania budget might be...
read more
Why Philly Needs the Sugary Drink Tax
As we move closer to a City Council vote on the sugary drink tax proposal, I want to offer...
read more
Make Believe Budgeting in Harrisburg
I’ve been doing political advocacy for over ten years and have been a teacher and writer about politics for...
read more
Finally: Waste, Fraud, and Abuse!!!
After ribbing Senator Wagner and his fellow members of the taxpayer caucus for not understanding the basics of budgeting,...
read more
U.S. Department of Labor Scores a Victory for Working People
On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) raised the salary threshold under which working people can earn overtime...
read more
Advocacy Update: Hunger Transcends Political Boundaries
Last month, the state’s 2015-16 budget impasse finally came to an end — more than nine months after it...
read more
PBPC Research Prompts Senators to Introduce Tax Fairness Legislation
Something new and unusual happened in Harrisburg today. Senators Art Haywood, Vincent Hughes and Jay Costa put forward an...
read more