Welcome to Common Sense Weekly! This is the Commonwealth Foundation's weekly news roundup of policy issues being debated in Harrisburg and across Pennsylvania.
Parents vs. Teachers Unions in Harrisburg
Who is more important: children or the teachers union?
Like college students cramming for finals, Harrisburg politicians are supposed to pass a budget by June 30. Much of the fighting will be about the needs of students versus the special interests, led by the teachers’ union.
Over 77,000 students in Pennsylvania are happy going to a school their parents chose — a Jewish day school, a parochial school, or Quaker or private school — with scholarship help. Pennsylvania has a tax credit program allowing businesses and taxpayers to donate to scholarship organizations to help children get to a school that works.
Yet over 63,000 thousand other students don’t receive those scholarships — because there’s not enough scholarship money to keep up with the growing demand among poor and middle class families seeking hope for their children. (However, donors want to donate more, if the politicians would let them.) Many students are forced to attend schools that are unsafe or failing their students — some schools with grades where no one is doing grade-level work!
Huge Tax Cut Passes PA Senate
The GOP-controlled Pennsylvania Senate has approved the largest tax cut in Keystone State history, slashing taxes by $3 billion.
The proposal is a Republican rebuttal to Democrat Gov. Josh Shapiro, whose proposed $48.3 billion state budget would increase spending by $3.7 billion or 8.4 percent over the current year.
Senate Bill 269 passed the Senate in a 36-14 vote over the objections of Democratic leaders, though eight Democrats broke ranks to back the GOP proposal.
Educational Freedom Is Back in the Budget Fight
School vouchers are heading back to the budget negotiation table in the Pennsylvania Capitol again with seemingly little change in the entrenched positions on this contentious issue.
One big difference is that opponents won’t be blindsided as they were last year when a proposal negotiated between Gov. Josh Shapiro and Senate Republicans to include vouchers as part of a budget deal was held closely under wraps until late June.
Shapiro's Energy Plan Will Increase Your Electric Bill
Pennsylvania voters are increasingly concerned about rising energy costs. According to recent polling, 80 percent of Pennsylvanians say their utility bills have climbed over the past two years, with 34 percent saying their bills jumped “a lot.”
Yet, the experience of other states shows Gov. Josh Shapiro’s preferred policies practically guarantee increased electricity prices.
Currently, Pennsylvania’s electricity prices are in the middle of the pack. A report by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) found the commonwealth’s average price is 9.97 cents/kilowatt-hour—the 26th most expensive. ALEC based its state rankings on a weighted average electricity price drawn from the rates of four sectors: residential, industrial, commercial, and transportation.
Most of Pennsylvania’s neighboring states—including New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland, plus all six of the New England states—have higher energy prices. Obvious reasons exist for Pennsylvania’s favorable pricing position in the region. For one thing, the Keystone State has abundant coal and gas and substantial nuclear power assets, generating enough surplus electricity to make Pennsylvania the country’s top kilowatts exporter.
Tell Governor Shapiro we need lower energy prices, not more green energy schemes! Send a message here.
