Author: Marc Stier

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On Gov. Wolf’s Bond Issue to Assist Counties In Purchasing New Voting Systems

  By PA Budget and Policy Center, Press release, Voting

Originally published by KRC-PBPC here. HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center director Marc Stier made the following statement on Governor Wolf’s move to issue a bond to help fund new voting systems in counties across the commonwealth: “Protecting our voting system is of the utmost importance. After the governor correctly vetoed SB48, it remained the case that the state needed to find a way to offset the costs to counties of putting into place secure voting systems that provide a critical paper trail for our elections. We applaud Governor Wolf for circumventing partisan gridlock to do whatever is necessary to make sure county governments aren’t hamstrung by costs in their quest for secure elections. We can all agree that we must have systems in place so that citizens can have confidence in election outcomes. Using this method to reimburse costs will allow county governments to make necessary changes to election… Continue reading

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On the CBO Report About a Federal Minimum Wage Increase

  By Minimum Wage, PA Budget and Policy Center

Originally published by KRC-PBPC here. HARRISBURG—Marc Stier, director of the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center, made the following statement in regards to yesterday’s Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report about raising the federal minimum wage: “The Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the agency that provides budget and economic analysis to Congress, released a report yesterday on the economic impact of raising the federal minimum wage to $15/hour by 2025. The main finding from this report, as we have found similarly in our own research, is that raising the minimum wage to $15/hour would benefit millions of low-wage workers across the country and that these benefits would far outweigh the costs. “The benefits of increasing the minimum wage include: reducing poverty; increasing the wages of 27.3 million low- and low-to-middle income families; and shifting money from corporate profits to low-wage workers, thereby reducing inequality. This policy change would result in a reduction of the number… Continue reading

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On Gov. Wolf’s Veto of SB48, a Bill to Eliminate Straight-Party Ticket Voting

  By Elections and Voting, PA Budget and Policy Center, PBPC Blog posts, Voting

Published on KRC-PBPB here. HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center Director Marc Stier made the following statement on Governor Wolf’s veto of SB48, a bill to eliminate straight-party ticket voting, among other election reforms: “We are gratified that Governor Wolf has vetoed SB48.” “SB48 started out as a bill to help Pennsylvania counties secure funds to procure new, secure voting machines. Republicans decided to add a provision to eliminate straight ticket voting from the Pennsylvania ballot.” “As my colleague Kadida Kenner pointed out in a powerful op-ed (http://bit.ly/2LpnYnH), eliminating straight ticket voting would have depressed the vote of people of color and low-income voters, who are often ignored by political campaigns, in down-ballot races— including those to the General Assembly. “Like the unnecessary Voter ID laws and partisan redistricting plans they have adopted in the past, the attempt to eliminate straight-ticket voting was a shameful attempt by a Republican Party… Continue reading

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Why We Remember the Holocaust

  By Fascism, Religion

Originally published in the Jewish Exponent, July 4, 2019 The point of remembering the Holocaust is not to say that it was an utterly distinctive event in human history. Every historical event is distinctive in some ways, but systematic genocide of a people has, sadly, been found at many times and places in human history. The point of remembering the Holocaust is not to give Jews a claim on the attention or sympathy of others. The point of remembering the Holocaust is certainly not to assert that our sins have been redeemed by our suffering or that of others. The point of remembering the Holocaust is to ensure that it never happens again to anyone and any group. We live at an extremely dangerous time. Some of us see parallels between the Trump movement and the fascism of the 1930s. And we see parallels between concentration camps in which immigrants are being held and… Continue reading

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On SB48, a Bill to Eliminate Straight-Party Ticket Voting

  By Elections and Voting, PA Budget and Policy Center, PBPC Blog posts

HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center director Marc Stier made the following statement on SB48, a bill to eliminate straight-party ticket voting, among other election reforms: “SB48 started out as a bill to help Pennsylvania Counties secure funds to procure new, secure voting machines. “Republicans decided to add a provision to eliminate straight ticket voting from the Pennsylvania ballot. “As my colleague Kadida Kenner points out in a powerful op-ed today (http://bit.ly/2LpnYnH), this action will diminish the vote of people of color and low-income voters, who are often ignored by political campaigns, especially in down-ballot races—including those to the General Assembly. “Like the unnecessary Voter ID laws and partisan redistricting plans they have adopted in the past, this is another shameful attempt by the Republican Party to rig our political system in their favor. “We strongly urge Governor Wolf to veto this bill and find an alternative means of helping… Continue reading

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Considering Vulnerability

  By About me, Life Stories, Philosophy, Published Op-Eds

Originally published in the Jewish Exponent, May 31, 2019 I’ve been thinking a lot about vulnerability since I hurt my back last summer. Since then, aside from three-week periods after I got two spinal injections a few months apart, I’ve stood and walked with pain and have had trouble moving around. And that’s left me feeling vulnerable. Feeling vulnerable in ways I never have before has made me think more about the role the sense of vulnerability and invulnerability plays in our lives. I’ve especially thought about those who are a lot more vulnerable than I was either because of physical limitations or because they face more challenges than I do — women, people of color, those who are disabled, those whose sexual identity and presentation is not traditional. It has occurred to me that my current sense of vulnerability, like the confidence I once had, is a bit of… Continue reading

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Judicial Districts and Judicial Independence

  By Memos, PA Budget and Policy Center

To: Legislators, legislative staff, editorial board members, columnists, other interested parties From: Marc Stier, Director, Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center Subject: Judicial Districts and Judicial Independence This week the Republican leadership of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives plan to take up an HB 196, a constitutional amendment proposed by Representative Russ Diamond to elect the appellate court judges who sit on the Supreme Court and the two second-level courts, the Commonwealth Court and Superior Court, by districts rather than in statewide elections. This proposal is similar to the Aument amendment to SB22, a redistricting reform proposal that passed the Senate but stalled in the House last year. HB 196 is deeply problematic for three reasons. First, given the role judges play in our constitutional government, district election is unnecessary. We elect legislators by district because it is important that regional interests be accounted for in the process of enacting legislation.… Continue reading

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How the ‘Fair Share Tax’ will restore fairness to our tax system

  By Pennsylvania Budget, Public Policy, Published op-eds

Originally published in the Pennsylvania Capitol-Star, April 24, 2019 Pennsylvania politics remains divided. One side, composed of mostly conservatives, believes that the key to prosperity is to cut taxes for the rich, cut spending for everyone else and—although they don’t say it too loudly—keep wages low. The other side, composed of mostly liberals, believe that a prosperous Pennsylvania needs to close our public investment deficit. They point out that state spending as a share of gross state product has fallen by 12 percent compared to the years 1997-2011. That has left us with: With a Democratic governor and a Republican-controlled General Assembly, neither side is getting what they want this year. And thanks to robust revenues, the governor’s austere budget—but not as austere as Republicans want—may be settled without too much stress. But that means that partisan gridlock is making it impossible for our government to make a real choice between the two visions of Pennsylvania’s… Continue reading

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Pizza and the Minimum Wage

  By Minimum Wage, Pennsylvania, Public Policy, Published Op-Eds

Originally posted at Penn-Live on April 09, 2019 Spend a little time talking to Republican (and some Democratic) legislators about raising the minimum wage, and they will eventually tell you about their friend who owns a pizza shop and opposes an increase. This is the story the pizza shop owners appear to tell our legislators: If the minimum wage goes up by 2/3rds from $7.25 to $12.00 an hour, I’d have to raise the price of my 12-inch pizza by 2/3rds from $9.49 to $15.75. No one will buy a pizza for $15.74 and I’ll go out of business.” We decided to test this claim in two ways. Every state surrounding Pennsylvania has raised its minimum wage, and two have raised it substantially. The minimum wage in New York is $11.10, 53% more than in Pennsylvania. In Maryland it is $10.10, 39% more. If the pizza shop owners who talk… Continue reading

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I’m a Zionist and I Welcome Marc Lamont Hill’s Remarks

  By Middle East

I remain a Zionist who believes that Jews deserve a national political entity and that such an entity must respect the rights of Palestinians to have one as well. That can be accomplished in many ways, whether two side by side states or two entities within a bi-national confederation or some new, unconventional solution that allows for the pursuit of communal interests on the part of each community while allowing for democratic free movement through and control of a shared land. Marc Lamont Hill’s op-ed today says that he is inclined to some kind of bi-national confederation and that his use of the term “from the river to the sea” was not meant to call for the destruction of Israel but reform of its policies within a bi-national framework. Especially since his speech—which I urge everyone to listen to—was focused on encouraging people to understand and stand up against the… Continue reading