Common Sense Weekly
Welcome to Common Sense Weekly! This is the Commonwealth Foundation's weekly news roundup of policy issues being debated in Harrisburg and across Pennsylvania.
America Needs Trump to Unleash Natural Gas
What should President-elect Donald Trump
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do on Day One? The answer is clear for Pennsylvania
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, where the president-elect campaigned the most
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and delivered a historic victory. Trump won Pennsylvania in large part by promising to end the Biden administration’s war on natural gas
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, the energy source that powers the state’s and the country’s economic future. His most important job is to deliver on the promise.
In Pennsylvania, the urgency is palpable. We’re the country’s second-largest producer of natural gas
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and the No. 1 state for exporting electricity
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. The natural gas we drill and frack not only supports tens of thousands of jobs in the state but also helps keep costs low and the lights on for manufacturers and families nationwide. Our contribution is immense. Yet, we’ve only scratched the surface of natural gas production, with vast reserves of affordable and abundant energy waiting to be tapped. Workers and job creators are ready to make the most of these bountiful resources.
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Trump Can’t Fight Big Labor Alone. States Must Also Help
President-elect Donald Trump is planning a new course for federal policy — regarding everything from foreign conflicts to environmental regulations — and he’s quickly forming his cabinet to reverse the unpopular direction taken by President Joe Biden and his administration.
But what about labor policy? The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is responsible for guidance on labor issues, and Trump will soon decide whom to place behind the steering wheel of this agency. With all due respect to the Department of Labor, the president’s future NLRB appointees will hold far greater power over the future of private workplaces. That Trump’s pick
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for Department of Labor secretary appears to be a dud only underscores the importance of dismantling Biden’s NLRB.
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Mass Transit’s Mass State Funding
State government covers more than half of operational costs for mass transit systems in Pennsylvania’s largest cities.
Notably, it’s not rider fares or contributions from local taxing authorities. In 2022, the latter represented just 7.5% of funding for both SEPTA in the Philadelphia region and the Pittsburgh Transit Authority, which operates 300 miles to the west in Allegheny County.
This stands in stark contrast to systems in Boston, Chicago and New York City, where state governments pay between 9% and 30%. The data, compiled by the Commonwealth Foundation, a conservative think tank based in Harrisburg, raises questions about the amount Pennsylvania spends to prop up its own mass transit systems.
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Pa. House Democrats Dodged This Year's Red Wave. Here's What Some Say the Party Can Learn
Nathan Benefield, senior vice president of the Commonwealth Foundation, said he and other Republicans don’t object to big donors but argue it’s hypocritical for Democrats to complain about the corrupting influence of money in politics while spending millions on a single House race.
The legislative maps adopted in 2022 also gave Democrats the toehold they needed for their narrow House win, Nicholas argues, pointing out that the boundaries sliced up a number of mid-sized cities like Harrisburg and Reading into Democrat-leaning districts.
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