Author: Marc Stier

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There’s a Crucial Need for OSHA Regulations in Safeguarding Public Sector Workers

  By Blog post

Originally published at Pennsylvania Policy Center on March 22, 2024. In Pennsylvania, OSHA (the Occupational Safety and Health Administration) regulations apply to most private sector employers and employees. However, public sector employees, including those working for “Section (3)(5) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 specifically excludes Federal OSHA’s authority over employees of State and local government. The Act provides for States to assume responsibility for occupational safety and health programs under the state’s own plan, which must be approved by the U.S. Department of Labor.” These protections implement lifesaving health and safety standards in the workplace as well as avenues to report violations and receive assistance. Amongst other protections, OSHA standards require private employers to: provide fall protection, ensure the safety of workers who are in confined spaces, provide protection against infectious diseases, and prevent exposure to harmful substances like asbestos or lead. Without regulation, all public… Continue reading

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STATEMENT: Celebrating the Landmark Affordable Care Act (ACA)’s 14 Years

  By Blog post, Penn Policy Center, Statement

Originally published at Pennsylvania Policy Center on March 22, 2024. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 22, 2024 CONTACT: Kirstin Snow, Communications Director snow@pennpolicy.org STATEMENT ON 14th ANNIVERSARY OF THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT The landmark Affordable Care Act (ACA) was signed into law fourteen years ago on March 23, 2010, thanks to President Obama and the commitment of millions of advocates—including 25,000 in Pennsylvania—who worked for years, encouraging politicians to address the health insurance industry’s abuses and the needs of 50 million Americans who could not afford health insurance. As its earlier incarnation, Pennsylvania Policy Center contributed to the victory as part of Health Care for America Now (HCAN), which was led in Pennsylvania by our executive director Marc Stier. Our deputy director, Levana Layendecker, served as the digital director of HCAN nationwide. Fourteen years later, we celebrate a great deal of progress while recognizing that there is still much work to do. The ACA cut the rate of uninsurance in… Continue reading

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A Point of Extreme Political Danger

  By Resisting Trump, Tump, US

I wrote this in 2019. “Trump is like a Bond villain. Totally over the top. Bent on world domination and the accumulation of riches without end because of a terrible psychic injury in childhood. Determined to dominate all the men and sleep with all the women around him because of the same injury. Utterly self-involved and untrustworthy. In other words, almost totally unbelievable. Except that it is real we are stuck with him for the foreseeable future.” I have seen no reason to change my mind except to say that, even though I understood Trump’s appeal in teh summer of 2016, I did not expect that his hold over the this country would be so impossible to shake. Trump is not by any means a political genius. His hold over half the country is a a product of the gruesome fit between his psychic flaws and the deep, long-standing flaws… Continue reading

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A Pennsylvania Budget to Celebrate

  By Blog post, Penn Policy Center, Policy Brief

Originally published at Pennsylvania Policy Center on February 6, 2024. February 6, 2024 Note: This is an initial review of the fiscal year 2024–25 budget proposed by Governor Josh Shapiro on February 6, 2024. As we delve deeper into the budget we may need to revise or modify the conclusion reached here. Also note that rather than providing one lengthy, in-depth analysis of the entire budget seven weeks or so after it is released, as was done by the previous affiliate of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, we will be rolling out our in-depth analysis over the next seven weeks in a series of reports. Overview Governor Shapiro took office a year ago at a time when there was a great deal of uncertainty about the economy and the fiscal state of Pennsylvania, and in the wake of a Commonwealth Court decision holding Pennsylvania’s system of funding public… Continue reading

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STATEMENT on Governor Shapiro’s 2024–25 Budget Address

  By Penn Policy Center, Statement

Originally published at Pennsylvania Policy Center on February 6, 2024. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 6, 2024 Contact: Kirstin Snow, Director of Communications, snow@pennpolicy.org STATEMENT on Governor Shapiro’s 2024-25 Budget Address, Pennsylvania Policy Center A Pennsylvania Budget To Celebrate Overview Governor Shapiro took office a year ago at a time when there was a great deal of uncertainty about the economy and the fiscal state of Pennsylvania, and in the wake of a Commonwealth Court decision holding that Pennsylvania’s system of funding public schools is unconstitutional. There was little time for a new administration, led by a new governor and an entirely new set of cabinet members, to develop a long-term plan to address the school funding question. Accordingly, the administration said that its initial budget would be followed by a second-year budget, which would fully address the constitutional mandate to fund K–12 education fully and fairly and other issues. And… Continue reading

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Statement on Child Tax Credit Expansion

  By Child Tax Credit, Penn Policy Center, Statement, US

STATEMENT on Child Tax Credit Expansion- Marc Stier. Executive Director, Pennsylvania Policy Center The House Ways and Means Committee today voted in favor of bi-partisan tax legislation that includes an expansion of the child tax credit along with the restoration of some expired business tax credits. The legislation is the product of negotiations between the Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, Jason Smith (R-MO) and the Chair of the Senate Finance Committee, Ron Wyden (D-OR). This legislation would benefit 16 million children in low-income families, or 1 in 5 of children under 17, including 506,000 children in Pennsylvania. It would especially help Black, Latino, and Asian children, whose parents are overrepresented in low-paid jobs due to structural barriers to opportunity. In the first year, the expansion of the child tax credit would lift 400,000 children nationwide- and roughly 16,000 kids in Pennsylvania- out of poverty. Additionally, another 3… Continue reading

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Statement on Federal Child Tax Credit Expansion

  By Statement

Originally published at Pennsylvania Policy Center on January 19, 2024. STATEMENT on Child Tax Credit Expansion – Marc Stier, Executive Director, Pennsylvania Policy Center The House Ways and Means Committee today voted in favor of bipartisan tax legislation that includes an expansion of the child tax credit along with the restoration of some expired business tax credits. The legislation is the product of negotiations between the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, Jason Smith (R-MO) and the chair of the Senate Finance Committee, Ron Wyden (D-OR). This legislation would benefit 19 million children in low-income families, or 1 in 5 of children under 17, including 506,000 children in Pennsylvania. It would especially help Black, Latino, and Asian children, whose parents are overrepresented in low-paying jobs due to structural barriers to opportunity. In the first year, the expansion of the child tax credit would lift 400,000 children nationwide—and roughly… Continue reading

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Statement in response to the Basic Education Funding Commission Report

  By Education, K-12 Education in PA, Penn Policy Center, Statement

The adoption of the Basic Education Funding Commission Report yesterday is a major step forward in meeting our constitutional and moral responsibility to fund education fully and fairly in Pennsylvania. The first step in this process was a Court decision by a Republican judge holding that our current system of funding education is not constitutional. Yesterday, the state took a second step. We are grateful that a majority of the Commission, including the Governor and the members of the General Assembly, provided a detailed and specific plan to meet the constitutional and moral requirement of adequately and equitably funding our schools—a plan we believe is fair. The plan comes very close to meeting our expectations. It sets a plausible and defensible standard for evaluating the adequacy of funding in every school district. By that standard, we need $5.4 billion per year in new funding to close the adequacy gap in a… Continue reading

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ITEP Report: Tax Fairness in Pennsylvania

  By Penn Policy Center, Pennsylvania State Taxes, Presentation

Every few years, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy releases its survey of taxes in the states, “Who Pays?” Click here to read the seventh edition, released on January 9, 2024.  A summary of the data for Pennsylvania is found below. This year’s report continues to tell the same story that we have seen for decades. Taxes in Pennsylvania are among the most upside-down in the entire country. The report shows that The lowest-income 20 percent of taxpayers face a state and local tax rate that is 152 percent higher than the top 1 percent of households. The average effective state and local tax rate is 15.1 percent for the lowest-income 20 percent of individuals and families, 11.4 percent for the middle 20 percent, and 6 percent for the top 1 percent. Pennsylvania has the highest tax rate on low-income families in the entire country at 15.1%. Pennsylvania has… Continue reading

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Presentation: Taxes in Pennsylvania Are Upside-Down

  By Pennsylvania State Taxes, Taxation

Slide deck from our press conference on January 10, 2024 Click here to print or read full screen.  Continue reading