Author: Marc Stier

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

  By PA Budget and Policy Center, Pennsylvania State Taxes, Published Op-Eds

Originally published by the PA Capital-Star on 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: K-12 schools that remain among the most unequal in the country, leaving too many of our children to receive an inadequate education; state spending on higher education that is half of what it was in 1983-84, leaving us fourth from the bottom among all states in per capita spending and 40th of 50 states in the percentage of adults with more than… Continue reading

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A Fair Share Tax Plan for Pennsylvania–2019 Update

  By Diana Polson, PA Budget and Policy Center, Pennsylvania State Taxes, Policy reports

By Marc Stier and Diana Polson Originally publish by KRC-PBPC This paper puts forward the Fair Share Tax plan, a major step toward fixing Pennsylvania’s broken tax system and raising the revenues we need to invest in the public goods that are critical to creating thriving communities and individual opportunity in our state: education, infrastructure, protection for our air and water, and human services. The calculations included in this plan are an update to similar proposal put forward by the PA Budget and Policy Center in 2017. The proposal that would raise $2.2 billion annually, while cutting taxes or leaving them level for 82% of Pennsylvanians. Click here to read or download the full proposal.  See how Pennsylvanians in each state House and Senate district would fare under the Fair Share Tax Plan here. Continue reading

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This Isn’t the Redistricting Reform We Need

  By Legislative Districts, PA Budget and Policy Center, PBPC Blog posts, Redistricting

HARRISBURG—Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center director Marc Stier made the following statement regarding the resurfacing of SB22, a bill intended to change the way legislative redistricting is done in Pennsylvania: Senator Mike Folmer announced this week that he will be resurrecting last year’s failed SB22, a bill to change the way district lines are drawn in Pennsylvania. Senator Folmer is preparing to bring the bill back up for a vote in the State Government Committee as early as tomorrow. While eliminating gerrymandering is critically important, Senator Folmer is hoping to catch Pennsylvanians unawares as he attempts to bring a failed bill to a committee vote without holding debate and hearings and without gathering input from the communities that will be most impacted by SB22. Governor Wolf established a redistricting commission earlier this year and Senator Folmer should not attempt to rush SB22 through committee without giving Pennsylvanians a chance to… Continue reading

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Backaches and Vulnerability

  By Life Stories, Philosophy

I’m having surgery on Tuesday which, I’m fairly confident, will remove the pain I’ve have had for the last eight months. Before I do, a word about what this experience has taught me. I’ve been thinking a lot about vulnerability since I hurt my back on July 23. Since then, aside from the 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 more vulnerable than usual. That feeling comes most often when I’m near cars. I’m much more careful crossing streets because once in a while the pain gets so bad that I just have to stop for a moment. And while I can pick up the pace for a brief burst, I don’t respond as quickly as I usually do. So I’m afraid of cars coming around a corner… Continue reading

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Analysis of Governor Wolf’s Proposed 2019-20 State Budget

  By Budget analysis, Diana Polson, PA Budget and Policy Center, Pennsylvania Budget, Public Policy, Stephen Herzenberg

INTRODUCTION Some important things have changed in Pennsylvania politics as a result of the 2018 election. But the basic political dynamic that constrains our budget politics remains. We have a Democratic governor and a Republican-controlled General Assembly. And more importantly, we face an ideological division that partly maps onto the partisan one. On one side are those who believe that the only path to prosperity for our state is to cut taxes for the rich and for businesses, cut spending, and hold wages down. On the other side—where the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center stands—are those who believe that prosperity for everyone requires us to raise wages and expand the safety net that protects those who need our help, invest in people through new educational initiatives at all levels and in workforce training, and invest in building our public infrastructure and protecting our environment. The priorities for spending found in… Continue reading

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Is Barr’s Letter a Whitewash of the Obstruction of Justice Charge?

  By Resisting Trump

After reading Attorney General Barr’s letter summarizing the principal conclusions of the Mueller report, it seems to me even more imperative that the full report be released as soon as possible. For there is some real reason to think that Barr is whitewashing Mueller’s conclusions, especially when it comes to the question of Trump’s obstruction of justice. According to Barr, Mueller does not reach a conclusion about whether Trump should be charged with that crime but, instead, sets out reasons for and against doing so. But then Barr concludes, with only 48 hours of considering the issue, that he should not be charged—and presumably should not be investigated by the House of Representatives—for obstructing justice. Barr says that no actions taken by Trump “had a nexus to a pending or contemplated proceeding, and were done with corrupt intent.” That is a plain restatement of what appears to be the law… Continue reading

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Governor Wolf’s 2019-2020 Budget: A First Take

  By Budget, PA Budget and Policy Center, PBPC Blog posts, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Budget

Governor Wolf’s 2019-2020 budget proposal reflects the unique political moment in which it is presented. Pennsylvania is a state poised between two visions of government in Pennsylvania. The governor’s budget points to the future being born. But the budget is constrained by another vision that is not dying as quickly as we would like. The governor’s budget, like the budgets of his successful first administration, points the way to our future—a future in which Pennsylvanians act together to create inclusive prosperity that allows everyone, no matter their race, class, gender or where they live in the state to live a life of dignity, prosperity, and opportunity. However, until the General Assembly reflects the changing priorities of Pennsylvanians, which includes support for proposals that generate new revenues from the very rich and corporations, the state budget will not invest sufficiently in education at all levels, health care, infrastructure, and protecting our… Continue reading

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Wolf’s budget plan will move Pa. forward – here’s how

  By Pennsylvania Budget, Published Op-Eds

Originally published by the PA Capital-Star on February 12, 2019 By Marc Stier Gov. Tom Wolf’s 2019-2020 budget proposal reflects the unique political moment in which it is presented. Pennsylvania is a state poised between two visions of government in Pennsylvania.The governor’s budget points to a future in which Pennsylvanians act together to create the inclusive prosperity that allows everyone to live a life of dignity, prosperity, and opportunity. But the budget is constrained by another vision, one that prioritizes cutting taxes for the rich and spending for everyone else, that is not dying as quickly as we would like. In the areas of wages, education, workplace development, and corporate tax reform, the governor’s budget takes important steps for Pennsylvanians and points the way to the future most Pennsylvanians want, one we will be able to fully realize once the General Assembly better reflects the priorities of the vast majority Pennsylvanians,… Continue reading

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On the IFO Five-Year Economic and Budget Outlook

  By Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Budget, Statements

This press release from the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center includes a statement from director Marc Stier regarding the November 2018 Press Release of the Independent Fiscal Office’s (IFO) Five-Year Economic and Budget Outlook for Pennsylvania. HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center released the following statement from director Marc Stier regarding today’s press release of the Independent Fiscal Office’s (IFO) Five-Year Economic and Budget Outlook for Pennsylvania: “The Independent Fiscal Office’s (IFO) Five-Year Economic and Budget Outlook, which was released today, confirms warnings we have been giving since July. While the state’s General Fund budget for the current year was balanced, it relied heavily on one-shot revenues and borrowing on the Tobacco Settlement. The previous two state budgets did the same thing. And the bills for paying for necessary state expenditures with one-shot revenues and borrowing are coming due. “The IFO predicts that the budget deficit for fiscal… Continue reading

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STATEMENT: On the Tax Study Released by the PA Chamber of Business and Industry Type

  By Statements, Taxation

HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center released the following statement from director Marc Stier on the study, “Pennsylvania: A 21st Century Tax Code for the Commonwealth,” released today by the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry: “The Chamber of Commerce announced today a tax proposal for our state that is the Pennsylvania equivalent of Trump’s federal tax plan. It would put more of the tax burden on working- and middle-class Pennsylvanians while reducing taxes for the rich and corporations. And it will make it harder to balance our budget in the future. “While there are a few elements of the plan we think make sense, the entire plan rests on a fundamental confusion between a tax system that is “business-friendly” and a tax system that is “friendly to rich people including the owners of large corporations and those who have inherited wealth.” A business-friendly tax policy would be… Continue reading