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Next session, Republicans in the House and Senate will hold a majority margin over the Democrats not seen since the Eisenhower years. The overarching theme for their legislative agenda could likewise hail from a less complicated time: hold the line on taxes and government spending, and drive the economy forward. In a post-election statement, Senate ...

The 2015-16 legislative session in Harrisburg ended much the way it began – with the specter of across-the-board tax increases looming over the Capitol.  In his budget address at the start of the two-year session, Governor Tom Wolf proposed a range of tax increases that would make even an EU minister cringe. At the end ...

Senator Scott Hutchinson (R-Venango) voted “no” in July on legislation to increase taxes and hike state spending by five percent over the previous year, peeling away the political pretense from an otherwise obvious truth. “The rate of government spending is unsustainable,” Hutchinson said. “Although state income tax collections and state sales tax collections have experienced ...

Rep. Kurt Masser (R-Northumberland) is an endangered species in the genus of elected officials. Before holding office, he was an employer. He made payroll, paid employer and employee taxes, abided by reams of federal and state regulations. His business experience began on the family farm in Pitman, sixty miles north of Harrisburg, then later expanded ...

Voters in November will be nearly as motivated to come out to vote against candidates as for them, the polls indicate. Disapproval ratings are that high. One candidate countering the tide of voter disgust is 54 year-old Mike Regan, the Republican candidate in the 31st state Senate seat, which covers equal parts of York and ...

All of the Harrisburg power players got what they wanted out of the state budget, leaving Pennsylvania taxpayers with the bill. The public sector unions got to keep their unrivaled, unsustainable retirement benefits. Governor Tom Wolf got more money for public K-12 education, in excess of the record amount approved by the General Assembly last ...

The General Assembly and Governor Tom Wolf are about to apply the old adage – you’ve got to learn the rules to know how to break them properly. Lawmakers are poised to grant a special liquor permit, a “National Event Permit,” for the Democratic conventioneers over the four days they are in Philadelphia in July. ...

Under the law and for all practical purposes, international trade is Washington’s domain. But the dumping of nation-subsidized, below-market steel has become so profound a problem for Pennsylvania steel manufacturers that state House members engaged in the fight this week. They have the most notorious culprit, China, in their sights. The House approved a resolution, ...

If Pennsylvania’s U. S. Senate race went to the candidate most qualified to promote economic growth and create jobs, it wouldn’t be a race at all. Incumbent Republican Pat Toomey is one of the prime authors of the JOBS Act that cuts red tape and makes it easier for businesses to access capital; Toomey led ...

Governor Wolf evidently missed Civic Class on the days they discussed the separation of powers. In the past few weeks, lawmakers filled in those missed classes by delivering a few lessons of their own. Last week, the House and Senate Republican majorities secured enough Democratic votes to send the governor a veto-proof Fiscal Code bill, ...