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Statement on Victory in the Education Funding Lawsuit
We are deeply gratified that Commonwealth Court Justice Renée Cohn Jubelirer has ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in the education funding lawsuit, which sought to have Pennsylvania’s system of funding K-12 schools declared unconstitutional on the grounds that it did not meet the requirement that “The General Assembly shall provide for the maintenance and support of a thorough and efficient system of public education to serve the needs of the Commonwealth” (PA Constitution. Art. 3 section 4). The dry language of law and statistics in Judge Jubelirer’s long opinion fully embraces the moral and constitutional imperative that “every student receives a meaningful opportunity to succeed academically, socially, and civically, which requires that all students have access to a comprehensive, effective, and contemporary system of public education” (William Penn School District et al. v. Pennsylvania Department of Education; Memorandum Opinion by President Judge Renée Cohn Jubelirer, February 7, 2023, p.… Continue reading
STATEMENT: On the Murder of Tyre Nichols
The murder of Tyre Nichols by five Memphis police officers took place in another state far from Pennsylvania. But it reveals a basic truth about structural racism in policing that sadly characterizes every state in the entire country, including Pennsylvania. Black people are not the only ones who are unjustly attacked and murdered by police officers. But the evidence is clear that they are disproportionately the victims of unjustified police violence. That violence is a product of a deeply flawed approach to public safety, one that asks police forces to maintain order in communities that are afflicted by social ills and economic distress that are beyond their capacity to address. A product of police forces is that, in response to the impossible task placed on them, they can adopt procedures and policies that too often create a toxic relationship between them and the communities they have pledged to serve—one that… Continue reading
Testimony to Speaker Rozzi’s Workgroup on House Rules
Testimony by Marc Stier, director of the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center, to Speaker Rozzi’s Workgroup on House Rules. St. Joseph’s University, Friday, January 27, 2023 My name is Marc Stier. I’m the director of the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center, and I live in the Mt. Airy section of Philadelphia. I want to thank you, Speaker Rozzi, and the members of the workgroup for creating this opportunity for the people of Pennsylvania to speak out about the rules of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. This process has been criticized by those who say that it is delaying the start of the legislative session. But what is more important for the House of Representatives to undertake now than to fix the rules that have too often led to undemocratic results in Harrisburg? Our organization believes that there are two fundamental problems with the way the House has operated in the… Continue reading
STATEMENT: Protect Medicare and Social Security
Statement by PBPC director Marc Stier at a press conference with US Representatives Brendan Boyle and Mary Gay Scanlan, and Dan Adcock, policy director of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, held in Philadelphia on January 23, 2023. If you are a member of the U.S. House of Representatives or a political junkie, you probably found yourself alternately transfixed, astounded, and disgusted earlier this month at the spectacle of the Republican House members trying to pick a speaker of the House. And you were subjected to speech after speech by MAGA Republicans who said that Washington, DC, is broken. They kept saying that something was wrong—but they weren’t very specific about it. I want to tell you today what is broken in Washington, DC. What is broken is that one of our two major political parties is dominated today by MAGA Republicans. It’s not just the 20… Continue reading
STATEMENT: On The Inauguration of Governor Josh Shapiro
For Immediate Release January 17, 2023 Contact: Kirstin Snow, Communications Director, Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center snow@pennbpc.org Statement by PA Budget and Policy Center director Marc Stier on inauguration of Governor Josh Shapiro The Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center welcomes our new governor Josh Shapiro. We are gratified that his inaugural address embraced many of the progressive ideals we and he have long championed. We look forward to working in a collaborative way with him, with his administration and with the Democratic and Republican leaders of the General Assembly in support of these shared ideals. Continue reading
Climate Change, COVID, and Y2K: Thinking About Time and Causality
Sometimes I wonder how the human race as a whole, especially those of us in the so-called advanced countries, can be so unimaginably slow in recognizing the danger of global warming. There are, of course, many examples in history of civilizations and societies that did themselves in by engaging in practices, such as over-farming in ways that leads to the death of or erosion of vital lands. But this has typically happened to civilizations and societies that had no technological capacity to look ahead and see the long-term consequences of what they were doing. We have that capacity. Yet we are moving slowly, and possibly far too slowly to deal with global warming. Obviously, the political interest of the wealthy fossil fuel industry is a major barrier. And so is the anti-government ideology of the far right. But it has occurred to me from time to time that human beings… Continue reading
3 amendments
Republican members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly are determined to move three highly controversial and deeply problematic constitutional amendments through the General Assembly this month and put them before the people in the May primary election. We strongly oppose this effort for three reasons. First, We The People–PA agrees with House Speaker Rozzi and Governor Wolf that the only amendment that deserves immediate consideration is the one to give victims of sexual abuse an opportunity to seek justice in the courts. Many who were abused as children were blocked from pursuing legal action after the age of 30 by a statute of limitations provision in state law. Recognizing how emotionally difficult it is for people abused as children to pursue justice—especially at a time when public recognition and support for them was lacking—the Pennsylvania House and Senate, with substantial bipartisan support, voted twice to put a constitutional amendment on the… Continue reading
STATEMENT: PA Senate Hijacks Justice for Sexual Abuse Survivors With Passage of Constitutional Amendments Package
In passing SB 1, the Pennsylvania Senate has hijacked the issue of providing relief to victims of sexual abuse to pass other constitutional amendments. It used a noncontroversial, bipartisan proposal to help pass controversial and partisan amendments that are bad policy and the subject of litigation. The proposal to provide a window for sexual abuse survivors to sue their abusers is an important step toward justice. We strongly support it. The other amendments do not serve the people of Pennsylvania but the political goals of one party. One of the partisan amendments would require voters to submit a government-issued ID every time they vote, even mandating that they provide copies of their IDs along with their mail ballots. We know that requiring a government-issued ID would make it impossible for some people to vote. This would disproportionately affect seniors and Black voters. Requiring voters to include a copy of their… Continue reading
