Common Sense Weekly
Welcome to Commonwealth Foundation's weekly news roundup of policy issues being debated in Harrisburg and across Pennsylvania.
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SEPTA’s Manufactured Crisis Has Delayed the State Budget Long Enough
This Sunday, after eight consecutive weeks of public fearmongering, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) will enact self-imposed service cuts. Though completely avoidable, these cuts aim to extract yet another taxpayer-funded bailout.
This is not a true emergency; it is a manufactured crisis, fueled and exploited by Gov. Josh Shapiro and Pennsylvania House Democrats as leverage in a protracted budget impasse of their own making.
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GO DEEPER: Read our analysis
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busting myths about SEPTA and its demand for a taxpayer-funded bailout.
New TV/Digital Ad: Shapiro’s Budget Impasse is Failing Kids & Families
Commonwealth Foundation has launched a new ad, calling for Gov. Josh Shapiro to end the budget impasse with a compromise that protects families from tax hikes and offers educational choice.
The ad is running statewide on digital beginning this weekend, and will air on TV from Sunday, August 24 through the 31st in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Harrisburg markets.
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Shapiro’s Shadow Campaign: Taxpayer Funds Power National PR Machine
As speculation around his presidential ambitions swirls, make no mistake: Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is already campaigning. And his national shadow campaign isn’t powered by donors – it’s bankrolled by taxpayers.
While other potential 2028 contenders have launched leadership PACs to test the waters, Shapiro has taken a different path: weaponizing the machinery of state government to build his national brand.
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Pennsylvania has a Problem with Dangerous Schools
A sweeping new analysis by the Commonwealth Foundation reveals that Pennsylvania’s approach to identifying and responding to dangerous conditions in public schools falls short and may jeopardize both student safety and federal funding.
State and federal law mandates that students attending persistently dangerous schools must be offered the option to transfer to safer schools—either within their district, a neighboring district, or a charter school. However, Pennsylvania has failed to enforce these provisions.
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Electricity Bills Too High? Bad Energy Policies Are to Blame.
Hot enough for you? If this muggy Pennsylvania heat doesn’t have you sweating, your monthly electricity bills will. Power usage surged during recent heat waves, pushing electricity demand “to its highest level in 14 years,” according to the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission. This power surge, the commission concluded, will “soon be reflected in monthly electric bills.”
But there’s another issue these higher electricity bills reflect: bad energy policies.
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Shapiro Gets Stuff Done? Really?
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