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Who Runs Harrisburg? You or The Corporate Elite?

  By Corporate Taxes, Minimum Wage, PA Budget and Policy Center, PBPC Blog posts, Pennsylvania State Taxes, Polling, Published Op-Eds

Originally published in the Pennsylvania Capital-Star, June 29, 2022.  By Nick Pressley and Marc Stier Every rumor we hear about the state budget negotiations tells us that a reduction in the corporate net income tax (CNIT) rate is possible. It is unclear whether that corporate tax cut also includes some of Gov. Tom Wolf’s “add-back” provisions, which would make multinational corporations that currently pay nothing pay something. It appears that Republicans continue to oppose closing the Delaware loophole by enacting combined reporting. Every rumor we hear also says that raising the minimum wage may not be included because Republicans oppose it.  Are we talking about cutting corporate taxes because it is a good idea? And is raising the minimum wage less likely because it is a bad idea? I’ll come back to these questions below, but the short answers are “no” and “no.” If they are not bad ideas, then is it hard to raise the minimum wage and easier… Continue reading

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Statement on Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade Decision

  By Abortion, Feminism, PA Budget and Policy Center, Pennsylvania, Statements

  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 24, 2022 Contacts: Kirstin Snow, snow@pennbpc.org   Statement on Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade Decision By Marc Stier, Director, PA Budget & Policy Center The right to abortion is paramount to the right to personal autonomy. There is no choice as life-defining as that of whether to bring a child into the world. Without the right to have an abortion and access to the procedure, pregnant people are denied the autonomy and freedom to make decisions about their own health, well-being, and the course of their lives. Banning abortion would limit the rights of half the population: women, transgender, nonbinary, and gender non-conforming people, undermining their ability to be full participants in our political, social, economic, and cultural life. And the radical opinion signed by six justices of the Supreme Court not only undermines the right to abortion but is a threat to other kinds of… Continue reading

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Reply to the Pennsylvania Chamber of Commerce’s LTE about Corporate Taxes

  By Corporate Taxes, PBPC Blog posts, Pennsylvania State Taxes

The Pennsylvania Chamber of Commerce has responded to our recent op-ed about corporate taxes with a letter to the editor and makes two points, to which I will reply. First, it says that the Delaware loophole was closed a number of years ago by legislation that created some of the add-backs Governor Wolf wants to put in place this year. Our answer: if that legislation really closed the Delaware loophole, then more add-backs and / or combined reporting wouldn’t have any effect and the Chamber would have no reason to oppose them. The proof that the Chamber is blowing smoke is that it opposes further efforts to close the Delaware loophole because its members know that the loophole is still open and closing it would make multinational corporations pay what they actually owe. The notion that combined reporting is complicated and would lead to lawsuits would be news to the… Continue reading

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This Budget We Have The Chance To Move PA Forward. We Can’t Miss It.

  By PA Budget and Policy Center, Pennsylvania Budget, Published op-eds

Originally published by the PA Capital-Star on June 16, 2022 For more than a decade, the Republican majority in the General Assembly has called for austerity. And it appears that a huge state budget surplus — without counting one-time American Rescue Plan funds — of more than $5 billion isn’t stopping them from doing so again. So, the question Pennsylvanians need to ask themselves is this: If not now, when? The results of a decade of austerity are easy to see. We are not a poor state. Our economy ranks sixth in the nation in total gross domestic product. And yet: We rank in the bottom seven states for support for higher education. We rank in the bottom seven in state funding of K-12 education and thus have the most inequitably funded schools in the country. We are falling behind neighboring states in the percentage of 3- and 4-year-olds in pre-K… Continue reading

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Keeping Property Taxes Lower in Philly Is the Right Idea

  By PA Budget and Policy Center, PBPC Blog posts, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Taxes, Policy briefs, Property Taxes, Taxation

Philadelphia is currently debating what to do with the additional revenues generated by the increase in property assessments. One side wants to use those additional revenues to moderate the growth in property taxes by raising the Homestead Exemption amount and expanding the Longtime Owner Occupants Program or “LOOP” (a tax relief program for low- and moderate-income homeowners whose property assessments, increase by 50% or more over the prior year). The other side wants to use the additional revenues to cut business and wage taxes. Our view at the PA Budget and Policy Center is that moderating the growth in property taxes is the right choice. That path will make our tax system fairer and is a better way to spur population and job growth than lowering business and wage taxes. The experiences of Boston and San Francisco, as well as Philadelphia’s experience with property tax abatement, shows us that Philadelphia’s… Continue reading

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Pennsylvanians From Across The CommonwealthJoined We The People – PA Campaign & Partners to Call for Fair Budget for All Pennsylvanians

  By PA Budget and Policy Center, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Budget, Press release

By Kirstin Snow and Marc Stier  Harrisburg, PA – For the first time in years, the Commonwealth will have a surplus of more than $15 billion from state budget surpluses and unspent federal pandemic relief funding at the end of this fiscal year. If this is not the moment to enact a budget that works to help hard-working Pennsylvanians and their communities, when will that time come? Earlier today, the We The People – PA campaign and its partners gathered alongside legislative leaders on the capitol steps to demand a just budget for all Pennsylvanians. During this rally, activists called on legislators to stop hoarding and to spend Pennsylvania’s accumulated surplus the way it’s intended to be spent—meeting the state’s responsibilities to our families and communities and to our democracy. The state has the money to do big things this year, and even a bold, inclusive spending bill would leave a… Continue reading

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Good to Have a Plan

  By About me, Health Issues

Spent most of the day seeking medical care for my back / neck / arm issue. No solutions yet but we are making progress. Last week my sports med doc suggested I should consult my orthopedic surgeon. And then after a really difficult episode on our trip, when I had excruciating pain and couldn’t even straighten out enough to get into bed, I called him. He suggested some short term meds and said I should come in. Yesterday my symptoms got worse—the hand weakness I had last year returned. I’m having trouble open doors, picking stuff up and, worst of all, playing my trumpet. Today I saw him and he did some tests that revealed the weakness. He said I should have an immediate MRI of my spine. The MRI didn’t show anything likely to be causing the nerve pain and muscle spasms in my back, or the shooting or… Continue reading