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Don’t Cut Philadelphia Taxes: An Overview
Originally published at Pennsylvania Policy Center on April 5, 2025. April 5, 2025 By Marc Stier Overview of Philadelphia Tax PaperDownload Continue reading
Author: Marc Stier
The Trump–Republican Assault on Working People Is Moving Ahead on Three Tracks
Originally published at Pennsylvania Policy Center on April 5, 2025. By Marc Stier This week, the Trump–Republican assault on the working people of the United States continued moving full-steam ahead on three tracks. On track one is the Senate budget resolution, which would advance the effort to take health care and food assistance away from tens of millions of Americans (and three million–four million Pennsylvanians) in order to extend and expand the 2017 Trump tax cuts that go overwhelmingly to the top 5% of people. The total cost of these tax cuts would be over $5 billion over ten years. Meanwhile, Medicaid would be cut by $880 billion and SNAP by $230 billion, potentially knocking three quarters of a million people off Medicaid and reducing already low SNAP benefits by 20%. The Senate is debating the resolution today and we expect it will pass after Republicans reject a Democratic amendment… Continue reading
Philadelphia Needs to Reduce Poverty and Grow: Tax Cuts Won’t Do It
Originally published at Pennsylvania Policy Center on March 18, 2025. VIEW IN A PDF READER. Loading Viewer… Continue reading
STATEMENT: PA Senators Should Vote ‘NO’ on the Continuing Resolution
Originally published at Pennsylvania Policy Center on March 12, 2025. Earlier this week, the US House of Representatives passed a continuing resolution (CR) to fund the federal government through the end of the fiscal year, September 30, 2025. The CR now goes to the Senate where it will be voted on as early as Thursday, March 13. The Pennsylvania Policy Center strongly urges Pennsylvania senators John Fetterman and Dave McCormick to vote against the resolution. We do this with full recognition that such a vote may lead to a temporary shutdown of the federal government, something we would oppose in normal circumstances. But in three important respects, the circumstances surrounding this continuing resolution are not normal. First, as has generally been the case in the past and is true today, passage of the continuing resolution is subject to the filibuster and, as a result, needs bipartisan support. Typically, in these… Continue reading
Work Requirements and the Safety Net
Originally published at Pennsylvania Policy Center on February 28, 2025. February 28, 2025 By Marc Stier All ten Pennsylvania Republicans in the House of Representatives voted for the budget resolution, which is designed to create deep cuts in Medicaid and SNAP to pay for the extension and expansion of the Trump tax credits of 2017, the vast majority of which will benefit the richest Americans and wealthy corporations And most people on Medicaid are on it for only a short period of time. People go on Medicaid when, usually due to bad economic times, they lose their job or health insurance and are typically on it for two or three years. And when the economy recovers, they get a new job or a better job with health insurance. While more than three million people are on Medicaid in Pennsylvania at any one time, experts estimate that about two-thirds of us… Continue reading
Statement on House Budget Resolution Vote: Pennsylvania’s Families Are At Risk
Originally published at Pennsylvania Policy Center on February 26, 2025. February 26, 2025 By Marc Stier Harrisburg, PA — Today, the Pennsylvania Policy Center released this statement from Executive Director Marc Stier on the passage of the budget resolution in the US House of Representatives: “With their votes today for the passage of the House budget resolution, all of Pennsylvania’s Republican representatives have made their priorities clear: they are willing to slash funding for critical programs that support Pennsylvania’s working families, seniors, and children—all to extend President Trump’s tax cuts for billionaires and big corporations. All Pennsylvania Democrats rightly voted against the budget resolution. “The 2017 Trump tax law failed to deliver on its promises—it did not boost wages, lower prices, or expand the economy for working families. Instead, it added $2 trillion to the national debt while giving corporations a lower effective tax rate than everyday Pennsylvanians earning $45,000… Continue reading
The Other Shoe Drops: Deep Cuts Coming for Medicaid and SNAP to Pay for Tax Giveaways to the Ultra-Rich
Originally published at Pennsylvania Policy Center on February 15, 2025. February 15, 2025 By Marc Stier I’m sure many of you have been following the news over the last few weeks from Washington, DC, with anguish, worry, and despair. We have seen President Trump and his factotum, Elon Musk (or is it the other way around?), engage in a series of illegal and unconstitutional acts. We have seen a cut-off of foreign aid that is already leading to deaths abroad. And we have seen an attack on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs that aim to roll back the all-too-little progress we have made in reducing the barriers that stand in the way of women and Black people. As I wrote last week in a short blog post, Connecting the Dots, as bad as these actions are, they don’t stand alone. They are meant to push forward the Republican plan to… Continue reading
PPC Statement on PA Governor Josh Shapiro’s 2025–2026 Budget
Originally published at Pennsylvania Policy Center on February 10, 2025. READ IN A PDF READER OR PRINT. February 4, 2025 Loading Viewer… Continue reading
Pennsylvania Organizations Opposed to Medicaid and SNAP Cuts, and Tax Cuts for the Ultra-Rich
Originally published at Pennsylvania Policy Center on February 9, 2025. This letter from Pennsylvania organizations was sent to all members of the PA congressional delegation on January 29, 2025. As you know, the incoming Trump administration and the Republican congressional leaders plan to extend and potentially expand the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), which is set to expire at the end of 2025. We urge you to use the expiration of these provisions as an opportunity to address long-standing inequities in our tax code and to raise more revenue to meet our country’s current obligations and address critical unmet needs. We also urge you not to reduce federal funding for the Medicaid, CHIP, and SNAP programs. No matter what we look like or where we’re from, all Pennsylvanians believe in caring for their families and community. People in our state work hard, giving our all as teachers, delivery drivers,… Continue reading
Connecting the Dots
Originally published at Pennsylvania Policy Center on February 9, 2025. This is roughly what our executive director, Marc Stier, said on Wednesday, February 7, 2025, at the “50/50/1” event on the Capitol steps in Harrisburg. More than 400 people were there to protest the Trump administration’s march towards fascism. It’s great to see at least four hundred of you here today. I know a lot of people were afraid to come to this event because they didn’t know who sponsored it. So, I applaud you for joining us. It’s going to take courage to fight back against the terrible things happening in Washington, and you are showing that today. In my remarks today I want to connect the dots between the four things the Trump administration is doing publicly and one other thing that’s happening mostly behind closed doors in Washington. It is the far less public thing that ultimately… Continue reading