When Governor Tom Wolf announced in January that two state prisons would close, community reaction was remarkably agitated.  Local officials, community groups, and prison workers mounted a full-court press, presenting the advantages of keeping prisons open.   Defenders portrayed grim consequences for short-straw communities suffering a facility closure. Meanwhile, across Pennsylvania, more than a few health […]

A Guest Opinion by David M. Sanko Executive Director, Pa. State Association of Township Supervisors Note: This is in recognition of Pennsylvania Local Government Week, April 10-14. Watch PSATS Executive Director David Sanko discuss the issues presented here on Behind the Headlines.      Whether you live in a township that’s large or small, it takes a […]

Pay any attention to Pennsylvania politics, and you quickly figure out that reform is perennially sought and infrequently delivered. Just about every candidate seeking elected office touts a commitment to reform, typically promising to root out waste, fraud, and abuse. Newly added to the debate is the more dramatic pledge, draining the swamp. For many […]

For fifty years, serious proposals to reform, reduce, or eliminate property taxes have been paraded through the state Capitol. Variant in approach and details, these plans have one thing in common: None has come into being. This frustrating experience reinforces a hard truth – it is nearly impossible to make politics and finances square up […]

Much has been written about the vengeful misdeeds that marred and ultimately short-circuited the tenure of former state Attorney General Kathleen Kane. For everyone appalled at her self-inflicted fall, it may be hard to believe another damaging blow to the public interest was delivered after Kane departed office. 2017 marks the 30th anniversary of the […]

In the Winter Olympics, champions in a variety of sports are determined by how swiftly they race downhill.  Individual performances are amazingly fast, and the difference in winning can be a fraction of a second. In the competition to achieve victory on state government reform, the course runs in the opposite direction – steeply uphill.  […]

May 23, 2016 – By Lt. Governor Mike Stack and State Senator Ryan Aument Biennial budgeting is bipartisan solution to annual impasses To the frustration of many Pennsylvanians, the 2015-16 state budget took almost nine months to complete. While this was the longest budget impasse in our commonwealth’s history, it certainly was not the first […]

Taking The Temperature Of Pennsylvania’s Hospitals & Healthsystems: Positive – Encouraging If Uneven Growth, And Negative – Troubling State Policy Trends Hospital Report Update 2017

On February 9, in an unprecedented and historic move, the Supreme Court of the United States stayed the keystone to President Obama’s climate legacy, the Clean Power Plan. The stay on the Clean Power Plan is in effect until legal challenges have been determined and halts the timeline on state plan submissions. Oral arguments before […]

Not many people have heard of Colwyn, Pa. It’s a tiny Philadelphia suburb of about 2,500 people that covers just 0.3 square miles. But this spring, it gained notoriety when it was declared “financially distressed” by the state. Local Philadelphia stations had already been airing chaotic council meetings, complete with screaming matches, swearing, and even […]