By Stacy Brown | PA Independent Before Gov. Tom Corbett even announced plans to reduce funding to the State System of Higher Education during his budget address last week, recent trends dictated that tuition would rise. Tuition has risen annually during the past decade, while enrollment has increased steadily. In addition, salaries for faculty and staff members have increased modestly during the same time.  The steady increases in tuition and salaries have occurred regardless of whether the State System of Higher Education, or PASSHE, schools receive state funding.  To make higher education …

Gov. Tom Corbett’s proposed budget for the 2012-13 fiscal year would overhaul how Pennsylvania distributes money to school districts, but it would maintain the current level of state subsidies for basic education. Corbett on Tuesday introduced his second consecutive no-tax budget that holds spending in line with the current year's revenue. Corbett said he wanted to avoid cutting basic education, and his new budget keeps school districts funded at the same level as last year.  But the governor is making some changes, including a proposal to revamp the funding stream between the state and the …

By Stacy Brown | PA Independent Out-of-state retailers will not collect sales tax on goods they sell online to Pennsylvania residents until Sept. 1, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue.  Meanwhile, as retailers adjust to the newly interpreted tax law, state residents must track the 6 percent sales tax on the goods they purchase and declare that amount on their 2011 tax return forms, according to the state tax code.  Opponents of the new law, which originally was expected to go into effect Feb. 1, said the state will lose more than $22 million in revenue, because Internet …

By Stacy Brown | PA Independent Two Pennsylvania state representatives, a Democrat and a Republican, are teaming up to produce a bill that would close the so-called "Delaware loophole" and potentially add up to $600 million annually in state income. The loophole allows many corporations to avoid paying state taxes in Pennsylvania by setting up subsidiaries in Delaware. State House Policy Committee Chairman Dave Reed, R-Indiana, and state Rep. Eugene DePasquale, D-York, are spearheading the effort. "We're looking to even the playing field for all businesses, so that they will be able to …

By Stacy Brown | PA Independent If a Medicaid recipient needs help with tax preparation, the state Department of Public Welfare directs him to an organization that specializes in income taxes. Or, when a caregiver gets sick and can no longer provide services, the Medicaid recipient is directed to the organization that handles financing for caregivers.  The Department of Public Welfare, or DPW, has 37 such organizations that offer financial management services, but that number could be cut to as few as three as early as April. The financial management services, which are used by about 22,000 …

With about three months until the state’s primary election April 24, most candidates are developing their own image and campaigns rather than gunning for each other. But differences are starting to emerge as the five hopefuls divide themselves into two camps on a few issues, with some pushing farther to the right on taxation and trade while others aim closer toward the middle, playing up their history as job creators and businessmen.  As they did during their first debate in December, in a debate in Doylestown on Jan. 19 the candidates generally agreed on rolling back government spending to …

A proposal requiring electric companies in Pennsylvania to buy more solar energy could cost ratepayers in Pennsylvania as much as $3 billion over the next decade. Legislation drafted by state Rep. Chris Ross, R-Chester, aims to address the collapsing value of the state’s solar energy credit market after the state injected more than $180 million in grants and loans to stimulate the industry in recent years. Thanks to abundant government subsidies for solar energy, the market expanded too quickly and caused the value of solar energy credits--rebates paid by electric companies to consumers who …

After a 50 percent increase in the number of Pennsylvania residents eligible for food stamp assistance in the past five years, the state Department of Public Welfare plans to restore stricter eligibility limits for some families. The changes to the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program--better known as food stamps--are among the strictest in the nation and mark a return to a policy the department abandoned in 2008.  The Public Welfare Department, which administers the program, said the policy changes will ensure that benefits go only to those households in the greatest need.  But …

By Stacy Brown | PA Independent A bottle of Hennessy Cognac Paradis will cost $200 more, or $599.99, in Pennsylvania beginning next month.  By comparison, Dom Perignon, a top-shelf champagne, which now retails at $139.99, will be $5 more.  And, for those with less regal champagne tastes, Moet Chandon Nectar Imperial Rose will increase by $4 to $53.99. These increases resulted from the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board's approval of vendor-requested price hikes on more than 300 products. "We couldn't continue to turn down the vendors’ requests for price increases, because we would risk losing …

By Stacy Brown | PA Independent For a fourth consecutive year, state employees and cabinet positions will not receive a cost-of-living adjustment, a move Gov. Tom Corbett hopes will help offset a projected $500 million state budget deficit. Cost-of-living adjustments, or COLAs, are the cost of maintaining the standard of living in a specific area. The COLAs are intended to bring salaries in line with the consumer price index, which is based on the Philadelphia region.Notices went out Jan. 1 to the approximately 13,000 affected employees.  "The governor instructed his cabinet members to forgo …

By Stacy Brown | PA Independent The Pennsylvania Turnpike soon could become a road less traveled. With urgency in his voice, Auditor General Jack Wagner said Jan. 5 that the state’s Turnpike Commission’s mounting debt could force it to raise tolls so much that motorists will find other routes to travel. "The statistics show clearly that the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission is drowning in debt due to the burdens placed on it by Act 44," Wagner said.  Implemented in 2007, Act 44 required the Turnpike Commission to transfer $450 million annually to the state Department of Transportation for a 50…

By Stacy Brown | PA Independent Corporate tax collections have lagged this fiscal year, causing some to question previous tax breaks provided to businesses by Gov. Tom Corbett. The collections were $259.3 million, or 17.6 percent, less than last year, according to the state Department of Revenue. Corporate taxes generally account for about 18 percent of the state's total revenue, but Corbett provided more than $200 million in tax breaks to corporations last year, including allowing businesses to write off the entire cost of expenses in one year, rather than spreading out the write-off over …

House Democratic leaders joined the growing number of voices calling for transportation infrastructure to be a 2012 legislative priority, even if Pennsylvania drivers must pay more at the pump in an election year. Democrats introduced a series of bills Wednesday that would build on the proposals outlined by Gov. Tom Corbett’s Transportation Funding Advisory Commission last summer. The proposals would: Uncap a portion of the state’s gasoline tax, known as the Oil Franchise Tax, which is applied to the first $1.25 of every gallon of gasoline at the wholesale level. Increase vehicle registration…

By Stacy Brown | PA Independent A change in the law governing collective bargaining is needed to help municipalities falling on difficult financial times, officials said recently. A major legal change lawmakers want would require arbitrators to consider a municipality's ability to pay an award that may be granted during the arbitration process. "We have to do something about Act 111. There should be reform," said state Sen. Jane Earll, R-Erie, who co-chaired a joint House and Senate public hearing Dec. 8 with state Rep. Chris Ross, R-Chester. The Police and Firefighter Collective Bargaining …

The seven Republican candidates for U.S. Senate from Pennsylvania who shared a stage Dec. 9 had one clear message: No new taxes, under any circumstances. Instead, they said the federal government could save money by: Limiting regulations. Referring most spending decisions to the states. Trying to increase revenue through economic growth. Reducing or eliminating federal agencies and departments. None of the candidates raised their hands when asked directly if they could foresee any circumstance in which they would support a tax increase. “Those who push for increased revenues are really saying…

Americans are expected to hit online stores for record level sales this holiday season, but Pennsylvania and other states want consumers to pay up when they make online purchases. Cash-strapped states are eyeing unpaid sales tax from online purchases as a potential revenue source, with differing levels of success. Pennsylvania’s plan is to add a new line to the state’s income tax forms and educate the public on the importance of paying those uncharged sales taxes--or else.State Secretary of Revenue Dan Meuser reminded Pennsylvania’s e-shoppers to save receipts and check them for sales tax …

By Stacy Brown | PA Independent At 16, Ming left her home in Southeast Asia on a student visa with the promise of a great education and a job, which she eventually could use to send for her mother and eight siblings.Ming settled in northeast Pennsylvania, where her visa was confiscated by the men who brought her there. She was forced to live in a 12-foot-by-12-foot room furnished with eight cots for the number of women with whom she shared the space. Like the other women, Ming's job was to provide what the storefront called "Heavenly massages" for about $40 a rub. To her horror, no school …

By Stacy Brown | PA Independent The battle over abortion is brewing in Pennsylvania, as lawmakers seek to limit access through the state health care exchange and federal funding for it. House Bill 1977 prohibits coverage for abortions in state health plans, unless the abortion is performed to prevent the death of the mother or if the pregnancy resulted from rape or incest. Some say this bill, sponsored by Rep. Donna Oberlander, R-Clarion, would take away a woman’s right to have an abortion, while proponents argue that the bill supports the state's public policy and protects the rights of …

Taxpayers in Pennsylvania will have a better glimpse into the workings of the state Gaming Control Board--and could see a little more money to help offset property taxes--under a pair of bills the state House is aiming to pass this week. The reforms on this week’s calendar include requiring the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, or GCB, to: Post all right-to-know requests and responses on its website. Inform gamblers how much they have won or lost on a monthly basis. Close the so-called “revolving door” in which the gaming industry hires members of the board that is supposed to regulate it, …

By Stacy Brown | PA Independent Pennsylvania residents soon could have wine shipped directly to their doors from out-of-state wineries. The Keystone State has not permitted this type of shipping, despite a 2005 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that declared that refusal unconstitutional. Legislation has been delayed as the Pennsylvania Legislature and Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, or PLCB, have wrestled with how to collect taxes on the shipment of wine and how to prevent minors from purchasing wine over the Internet, officials said. Pennsylvania law permits wine consumers to purchase wine …