Category: Politics

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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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The We The People — PA Policy Agenda and the 2018 Midterm Election

  By Pennsylvania, Politics

Marc Stier of We The People — Pennsylvania made the following statement about last night’s General Assembly election results: Changing the direction of a state as large as Pennsylvania is a large project that takes some time. But Pennsylvania took a huge step towards embracing a new politics that focuses common-sense policies that work for all of us, not just for the wealthy and well-connected. When we launched We The People — Pennsylvania, conversations with people of all kinds from every part of the state told us that Pennsylvanians were looking for a new direction in our politics — one that focuses on positive, common-sense policies that work for all of us. Last night, voters across the state found those kind of candidates — candidates who endorsed the six principles of the We The People — PA policy agenda. In the General Election of 2018, five state Senate seats and eleven state House seats have… Continue reading

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It’s Labor Day Weekend: Let’s Talk About Unrigging The Economy for Workers

  By Inequality, Labor, Politics, Public Policy

During the Labor Day holiday when we celebrate working men and women — and at a time when we are entering a critical election season — let’s stop and ask how we can give those working Americans what they most want and need: higher wages and better jobs in a growing economy. That is a question for which there are two starkly different answers. Since the dawn of the Reagan era, right-wingers have claimed that cutting taxes on corporations and the rich will spur economic growth and raise wages. That theory is embodied in the tax cuts Trump and Congressional Republicans enacted this year. The corporate tax rate was slashed from 35% to 21%. Income tax cuts were heavily weighted to the to the top 5%, who receive half of the tax reduction, and the top 1%, who receive over 25%. What has been the consequence for working people? Only 4.3% of… Continue reading

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A Roadmap to a New PA

  By PA Budget and Policy Center, Pennsylvania, Public Policy, We The People–PA

A Roadmap to a New Pennsylvania: State Policy Towards a Safer, Healthier, More Prosperous and Equitable Commonwealth Written by the We The People Policy and Communications Team with guidance and input from our allies. Stephen Herzenberg, John Neurohr, Diana Polson, and Marc Stier. Edited by Marc Stier Below is the We The People’s comprehensive public policy manual for lawmakers and advocates, “A Roadmap to a New Pennsylvania: State Policy Towards a Safer, Healthier, More Prosperous and Equitable Commonwealth,” which was derived from the best policy research from experts across the country, and informed by everyday Pennsylvanians who came together in 13 community meetings all over the state. At those meetings, citizens found broad agreement on what is wanted from state government: public policies that make poor, working and middle-class Pennsylvanians safer, healthier, and more prosperous. This became the We The People – PA policy agenda. The Roadmap is an expanded breakdown that agenda—a… Continue reading

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On the General Assembly Passage of the General Appropriations Bill

  By Budget, PA Budget and Policy Center, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Budget, Statements

This press statement, released on June 22, 2018, reflects PBPC director Marc Stier’s statement following the General Assembly’s passage of a budget spending plan that will be sent to Governor Wolf. HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center director Marc Stier made the following statement after the General Assembly passed a budget spending plan that will now be sent to Governor Wolf: “When Governor Wolf released his budget proposal in March, we noted that his plan had the right priorities but, given the political realities he faced, understandably did not put forward initiatives bold enough to close the deep public investment deficit in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvanians should feel the same about the general appropriations bill that passed through the General Assembly today. “The new budget provides welcome new investments in pre-K and K-12 education, special education, higher education, workforce training, child care, treatment for substance abuse disorder, and intellectual disabilities. These… Continue reading

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The Follmer Redistricting Commission: Neither Independent Nor Nonpartisan

  By Legislative Districts, Policy briefs, Redistricting

 Both the political class in Harrisburg and the progressive community around the state are focused today on the redistricting issue. Last week the Senate State Government Committee passed a version of Senate Bill 22 that was crafted by Senator Mike Folmer. Some of the advocacy groups that have been working in favor of a fair redistricting process have been cautiously, or in some cases not so cautiously, supportive of it. Some who have argued that the proposal itself is problematic have held that passing it in the Senate is a necessary step to reaching a better bill. I’m reluctant to create divisions among people who are generally allies, but I want to make clear that I believe the Folmer redistricting proposal is not only deeply flawed but is in no way a step forward for those of us who want to see a fair, nonpartisan process of drawing congressional and… Continue reading

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Puerto Rico, Democracy and Disaster

  By Economic Development, White Supremacy and Structural Racism

There is a reason why this country is ignoring the disaster that has afflicted our citizens in Puerto Rico. It’s exactly what happens when people have no control over their government. There is no way this would be happening to any state with the population of Puerto Rico because our government would have to respond to people who voted for president, two senators, and members of the house. Either make Puerto Rico a state or let it become independent. (And that choice is up to the citizens of Puerto Rico.) The current status is morally indefensible. Continue reading

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MEMO: Analysis of the PA Senate Redistricting Commission Plan and the Folmer Amendment

  By Legislative Districts, Memos, Redistricting

This memo outlines how the Folmer proposal is worse than the process we have now in four important respects. The redistricting process created by Senator Mike Folmer‰’s version of SB 22 passed by the Senate State Government Committee last week does initially look like a move toward nonpartisan redistricting, and for that reason some reform groups have said it is a step forward. But while we at the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center support the goal of a nonpartisan system of drawing Congressional and state legislative districts lines, the process that would be put in place by the Folmer plan is so far from desirable that we urge the full Senate to reject it and start over. Continue reading

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Tax cuts for wealthy won’t bring prosperity to PA

  By Economic Development, Economic Justice, Pennsylvania, Public Policy

Originally published in Public Opinion, March 21, 2018 In the aftermath of the Trump-GOP tax cut enacted at the end of the last year, some legislators and advocates are calling for Pennsylvania to also cut tax rates for both individuals and corporations in the hopes of spurring economic growth and job creation.   It is hard to think of a worse idea for our political community, not only because it is unfair, but because it has been tried and failed again and again.   Pennsylvania has one of the most unequal tax systems in the country. Low-income Pennsylvanians pay 12% of their income in state and local taxes while middle-income Pennsylvanians pay 10%. But those with incomes in the top 5% pay only 6.8% of their income taxes while the top 1% pay only 4.2%. With a tax system this unfair, why should we emulate a federal tax cut that mostly reduces taxes for those at the top?   It wouldn’t be because cutting taxes for the rich… Continue reading