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Fred Anton opened the 2016 Pennsylvania Leadership Conference (PLC) in Harrisburg this past weekend with a word of caution: with the presidential election dominating the headlines, don’t lose focus on Senator Pat Toomey’s re-election and the elections of the down ticket Republicans. “The Senate will have a big impact on who sits on the Supreme ...

With three weeks of budget hearings in the books, lawmakers are scheduled to return to session next week with two budgets to complete: the portion of this year’s budget blue-lined by Governor Tom Wolf in late December and the spending plan for FY 2016-17. If something doesn’t happen quickly on one or both budgets, Standard ...

Lawmakers Sue Wolf Administration Over Takeover Of Pension Watchdog Commission; Spending Authorization Scrutinized During Budget Hearings Late last week, two Republican House members filed a legal action against the Wolf Administration for defunding, and later absorbing into the governor’s budget office, an independent watchdog commission overseeing public sector pension costs. The Public Employee Retirement Commission ...

Finally… From Broad-Based Tax Increases The Situation With dwindling options, Republican legislative leaders are seeking to break the budget impasse by “nailing down” agreements with the governor on some big-ticket items one-by-one. The list includes liquor privatization and pension reform, of course, and the latest: raise revenues through some form of gambling expansion. Hopefully, this ...

This week, House Republicans needed just a little Democratic help to fund an array of social services, stranded by the now eight week impasse over a state spending plan. They didn’t get it. The social service programs were victims of Governor Tom Wolf’s veto on June 30 of the entire budget approved by the General ...

Rep. Todd Stephens (R-Montgomery) rightly says this budget season presents a perfect opportunity for the General Assembly to reduce public debt. Stephens is spurred by more than just a commitment to fiscal discipline; “Debt service is crowding out our ability to fund other vital services,” he says. The sentiment has manifested in a package of debt ...

Legislative leaders have rightly characterized the reform of our public pension systems as Pennsylvania’s top budgetary issue. On May 13, with six weeks to go before the June 30 budget deadline, the Senate Republicans moved on Senate Bill 1 (SB1), an extensive reform plan. The legislation will help keep spending under control and negate the ...

It’s fitting that the driving force of the conservative movement in Pennsylvania, Frederick W. Anton III, announced that he is remaining the Chairman of the Board of the Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association, but that David N. Taylor will now serve as President at the recent Pennsylvania Leadership Conference; a two-day issues forum that brings together activists ...

Concluding that Governor Tom Wolf’s budget plan is “not based in reality,” Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman (R-Centre) said the General Assembly is “going to have to start from scratch” in developing a General Fund Budget for Fiscal Year 2015-2016. House Speaker Mike Turzai (R-Allegheny) questioned how many votes the governor could muster for his ...

The Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association sincerely thanks Representative Eli Evankovich, Chairman of the House Manufacturing Caucus, for introducing and fostering the passage of House Resolution 1034, designating October 3, 2014, as “Manufacturing Day” (MFG DAY) in Pennsylvania. This day is a nation-wide awareness effort led by the National Association of Manufacturers, the Manufacturing Institute, and other ...