Act 7 of 2016 requires the Independent Fiscal Office (IFO) to provide technical assistance to the Joint State Government Commission (JSGC) for a study related to various aspects of the Pennsylvania horse racing industry. The IFO agreed to provide analysis and text necessary to address the statutory requirement that the report include “a determination of the economic return to the Commonwealth, racetrack operators, horsemen, breeders and other stakeholders on the investment of gaming assessments collected under the act of July 5, 2004 (P.L.572, No.71).”
This report is the IFO's submission to the JSGC in fulfillment of this requirement.
Note: Tables D and I (pages 8 and 21) and supporting text were updated since the original publication. (Revised March 13, 2017)
Letter to Rep. Stephens in response to questions regarding the IFO analysis. (March 28, 2017)
The IFO responds to a request regarding the impact of Philadelphia’s local cigarette and beverage taxes on state revenue collections.
The letter has been revised to include current footnotes 3 and 6, which provide additional context for the assumptions used by the analysis. (Revised on March 20, 2017)
The IFO provided additional information to members of the Senate Appropriations Committee in response to requests made at its recent budget hearing.
The IFO provided additional information to members of the House Appropriations Committee in response to requests made at its recent budget hearing.
Director Matthew Knittel provided a budget and economic update to the Fifth Annual Economic Forecast Summit sponsored by the Pennsylvania Chamber Educational Foundation and the Pennsylvania Bankers Association.
The IFO has compiled information for the House and Senate Appropriations Committees in advance of its scheduled testimony on Tuesday, February 21.
The hearing packet contains a brief background on the Independent Fiscal Office and its responsibilities, along with a list of the reports and analyses published since January 2016. It also provides data regarding the economic and revenue outlook, demographics, pensions, and natural gas.
This research brief contains current and historical trends for casino gaming, pari-mutuel gaming and the lottery. The brief also presents casino gaming revenues, tax rates and effective tax rates for adjacent states, which likely influence trends for Pennsylvania. The final section displays how revenues from the three types of gaming were used in the state budget for the most recent year of actual data, FY 2015-16.
Deputy Director Mark Ryan made a presentation at a session of the Pennsylvania Education Policy Fellowship Program regarding the Commonwealth's long-term fiscal outlook. The presentation summarized the office's five-year economic and budget outlook (November 2016) as well as more recent updates to the office's revenue estimates for FY 2016-17 and FY 2017-18 (January 2017). The presentation also addressed the office's most recent estimate for school property tax collections.
Deputy Director Mark Ryan made a presentation to the Greater Pittsburgh Nonprofit Partnership regarding the Commonwealth's budget outlook for FY 2016-17 and beyond.
Deputy Director Mark Ryan made a presentation to the 2016 Keystone Rail Freight Seminar regarding Pennsylvania's economic and revenue outlook.