Welcome to Common Sense Weekly! This is the Commonwealth Foundation's weekly news roundup of policy issues being debated in Harrisburg and across Pennsylvania.
Voters Aren’t Buying What Shapiro Is Selling
As inflation persists, Pennsylvania voters are rejecting increased government spending, according to new polling data released by the Commonwealth Foundation.
Inflation and the rising cost of living remain Pennsylvanians’ chief concerns. With more than two-thirds of voters saying that high prices are eating away at their standard of living, it’s no wonder that a plurality reports their family is worse off than two years ago.
Unsurprisingly, voters concerned with living costs reject proposals that would take more money from their paychecks to fund government programs and subsidize special interests.
In particular, Pennsylvanians staunchly oppose Gov. Josh Shapiro’s latest budget proposal. Voters recognize that the governor’s $48.3 billion budget – with its $3 billion in spending increase and perpetual deficits – will result in higher taxes. Six in ten voters oppose his overall budget, and 61% say that his proposed spending increase is too much.
Climate radicals are coming to Western Pennsylvania
The birthplace of the oil and gas industry is the latest target in the crosshairs of climate change activists. Having grown up in Oil City, Pa., I know how vital oil and gas has been for Western Pennsylvania, and I know how important it will continue to be.
Living in Oil City, I also know that you can have a healthy environment and a healthy fossil fuel industry, but you cannot have a healthy economy without fossil fuels.
Oil and gas and the affordable energy they provide are the lifeblood of our economy, in Pennsylvania, and around the world. The industry supports tens of thousands of jobs in Pennsylvania alone.
But our state and our livelihoods are under assault. Out-of-state billionaires, who fund the so-called Center for Climate Integrity, are trying to start a proxy fight in Allegheny County. Their goal is to persuade states and localities to sue energy companies for damages from weather events that they claim are caused by the “climate crisis.”
Union Mismanagement Is a Big Threat to Taxpayers
Unions have historically been viewed as staunch defenders of workers’ rights and collective-bargaining power. However, recent developments have cast a shadow over this perception, as an increasing number of unions are in dire financial straits, largely attributed to ballooning pension liabilities.
The recent turmoil within the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 13 in Pennsylvania, for example, serves as a stark reminder of the endemic issues plaguing many unions. The union’s descent into financial chaos, combined with AFSCME International’s administrative oversight, lays bare a troubling reality of mismanagement and fiscal irresponsibility that calls into question unions’ efficacy in serving their members.
Stay Focused! Don't Lose Sight of the Dangerous Policies Coming Out of Harrisburg
It’s a presidential election year, with voters riveted on national politics and issues.
Inflation — caused by federal deficit spending — and immigration consistently poll as the top issues on the electorate’s minds. Meanwhile, pundits provide detailed analysis of what former President Donald Trump meant by “bloodbath” and whether President Joe Biden’s claim that he rode Amtrak over a bridge that never had train tracks is a sign of dementia.
Washington, D.C., of course, merits our vigilance. However, Pennsylvania voters must also watch Harrisburg closely, as state lawmakers have introduced and advanced extreme, harmful policy ideas and tax hikes.
In March, the Democratic-controlled Pennsylvania House passed legislation to send another $280 million yearly to mass transit systems in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, raising the total annual transfer to $1.5 billion.
This bill diverts revenue from what the tax code calls the “Tax for Education.” Originally created to fund public education, the Tax for Education is the six percent state sales tax consumers pay across the commonwealth.
Tell Governor Shapiro to support giving kids a lifeline out of dangerous schools! Send a message here.
