News & Brews November 3, 2022
Get News & Brews in your inbox each day: Subscribe here!
Pa. ranks 33rd in state business tax climate
Pennsylvania comes in an abysmal 33rd in the Tax Foundation’s 2023 State Business Tax Climate Index. The index factors in component rankings in corporate, individual, sales, property, and unemployment insurance taxes. Ranking in the top five for the best scores were Wyoming, South Dakota, Alaska, Florida, and Montana. Meanwhile, at the bottom were Connecticut, California, Washington D.C., New York, and New Jersey.
‘Low turnout lets Philly DA Krasner off the hook’
Our president and CEO, Matt Brouillette, has a letter to the editor in the Wall Street Journal, noting that in contrast to the refrain that Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner won re-election in a landslide, the reality is that 85% of registered voters didn’t vote for him. Meanwhile, Matt writes, “All of those being victimized by crime—100%—would rather [Krasner] do his job than pursue his woke, soft-on-crime ideology.”
WSJ to host ‘state of the midterms’ tonight from Philly
Tonight at 7:00 p.m., the Wall Street Journal will host a live Q&A from Philadelphia on the state of the midterm elections. The event will feature former Gov. Ed Rendell and Sen. Pat Toomey, along with several WSJ reporters from the campaign trail. In addition to the overall election landscape, the event will consider what the Fetterman v. Oz race says about “the state of American politics.” Click here to watch the event this evening at 7:00 p.m.
Pa. impact fee revenues expected to set new record this year
The Post-Gazette reports that Pennsylvania’s impact fee (another name for the tax that Gov. Wolf claims doesn’t exist), “is on track to yield a record $275 million this year, largely on the back of high natural gas prices and a slight uptick in the number of new wells drilled.” The story notes, “Of the projected $275 million, about $153 million will go toward counties and municipalities that host gas wells and another $102 million will be put into the Marcellus Legacy Fund, which funds environmental, highway and water projects. The remaining $20 million will be split between state agencies and conservation districts.”
>$16M in taxpayer dollars used for children’s sex reassignment during Wolf’s tenure
A Right-to-Know Request submitted to the state Department of Human Services by the Pennsylvania Family Institute revealed that since 2015, more than $16.7 million in taxpayer dollars have been used “on sex reassignment and transition related services and drugs for service” for minors under the age of 18. The funding, which has flowed through Pennsylvania Medical Assistance, increased dramatically from about $78,000 in 2015 to more than $3.9 million in 2021.