COMMONWEAL A Journal of Pennsylvania Politics and P TH olicy EDITOR- IN- CHIEF J. Wesley Leckrone, Widener University MANAGING EDITOR Michelle J. Atherton, Temple University ASSOCIATE EDITORS Christopher Borick, Muhlenberg College Paula A. Duda Holoviak, Kutztown University Joseph P. McLaughlin, Jr., Temple University EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Bruce Caswell, Rowan University Beverly A. Cigler, Pennsylvania State University, Harrisburg Richardson Dilworth, Drexel University John J. Kennedy, West Chester University John Kincaid, Lafayette College Joseph Marbach, Georgian Court University David Y. Miller, University of Pittsburgh Megan Mullin, Duke University Richard A. Stafford, Carnegie Mellon University FOUNDING EDITOR EMERITUS Donald G. Tannenbaum, Gettysburg College EDITORS EMERITUS Thomas J. Baldino, Wilkes University Gerard J. Fitzpatrick, Ursinus College Published by Temple University Press on behalf of The Pennsylvania Political Science Association The Pennsylvania Political Science Association Founded in 1939, the Pennsylvania Political Science Association (PPSA) is the nation’s oldest state political science association. Its mission has always been to promote scholarship, research, and the exchange of ideas within the Pennsylvania community of political scientists. PPSA draws its membership principally from the political science and public administra- tion faculties of Pennsylvania’s public and private colleges and universities but also includes government professionals and faculty members from sur- rounding states. PPSA’s annual conference includes dozens of panelists covering a wide vari- ety of subjects. While university faculty compose the vast majority of partici- pants, legislators, legislative staff, executive officials, and undergraduates also have participated. For more information on the activities of PPSA and mem- bership rates, please visit the association’s website at http://www.papolisci.org/. http://www.papolisci.org/%7bCOMP Pennsylvania Policy Forum C OMMONWEALTH collaborates with the Pennsylvania Policy Forum to plan special issues and attract high-quality content to the journal. The Forum is a consortium of faculty members and academic and policy institute leaders from Pennsylvania colleges and universities who share an interest in generating ideas, analyses, and symposiums that might prove useful to citizens, elected officials, and civic leaders in addressing major issues confronting the Commonwealth and its local governments. As educators who have helped train students for careers in public policy, members also share an interest in helping to improve the skills, knowledge, and tools of leaders in the public and civic sectors. Members of the Forum have expertise in public policy analysis as well as a wide range of substantive issues, including but not limited to education, transportation and public infrastructure, economic development, agriculture, energy, elections, water policy and the environment, health care, social policy, urban development, emergency management, information technology, public finance, and constitutional law. Members also share an interest in improving both the policy process itself and the institutional structures through which issues and problems are addressed. Forum members have contributed to public policy debates in Pennsyl- vania, and a number have also served in state and local government and in nonprofit and civic organizations that engage in policy development and implementation. Some members of the Forum are associated with other academic and public policy–related organizations, but the Forum itself is independent of these relationships and has no formal connections to any gov- ernment entity. Members obviously benefit from the intellectual resources and environments of their universities, but unless otherwise indicated, they do not act on behalf of their institutions when they sponsor Forum projects. The premise of the Forum is that through the consortium, members can jointly develop and sponsor nonpartisan research, symposiums, and educa- tion and training programs of value to elected officials, civic leaders, and the public and thereby enhance their ability to contribute to more intelligent and informed policy making. Contents Virtual Issue Number 1 | 2020 Editor's Note Matters: Introduction to Virtual Issue on Controversial Issues in Pennsylvania Politics and Policy J. Wesley Leckrone, Editor-in-Chief State Government Forum: Should Pennsylvania Adopt Direct Democracy? Commonwealth Forum: Does pennsylvania need a large, Full-time legislature? Forum: Do Businesspeople Make Good Chief Executives? Elections Commonwealth Forum: should pennsylvania Adopt a Citizens’ redistricting Commission to Draw Congressional Districts? Forum: Should Pennsylvania Adopt Early Voting? Budgeting and Taxes Commonwealth Forum: Addressing pennsylvania’s structural Budget Deficit revitalizing Pennsylvania Through Government Reform Bob Dick the Continuing Pennsylvania Crisis in Perspective Marc Stier Forum: Should Pennsylvania Abolish the Property Tax? Part I Forum: Should Pennsylvania Rely on Sin Taxes for Revenue? Forum: Should Pennsylvania Tax Retirement Income? Forum: Should Pennsylvania Enact a Natural Gas Severance Tax? ii Contents Public Policy Issues Forum: Would Mandated Paid Leave Be a Competitive Disadvantage for Pennsylvania? Forum: Should Pennsylvania Allow Safe Injection Sites? Forum: Should the State Provide Support to Rural Hospitals? Forum: Should Pennsylvania End the Practice of Hold- Harmless Funding? Forum: Should State Government Subsidizee the Economic Development of Natural Gas Facilities? Forum: Should Pennsylvania Enact Work Requirements for Medicaid Recipients? Forum: Should Pennsylvania Abolish the Property Tax? Part II Yes, Abolish the Property Tax: David G. Argall and John Hopcraft No, Keep the Property Tax: William A. Fischel VI-2020 Table of Contents in Commonwealth Format VI-2020 Table of Contents VI-2020 TOC 2