Category: Politics

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Not Having to Think About Race And Racism Is White Privilege

  By Politics, Public Policy, White Supremacy and Structural Racism

So the “wonderful” thing about being a white person in the United States is that you don’t have to think about it, or racism, if you don’t want to. You can form your political opinions without giving a second thought. You can write policy analysis as if race has no impact on education, or on access to health care or housing or jobs, or anything else we value—and until relatively recently,  almost no one will criticize you and say you are missing something. You can work in business without thinking about how your employment policies or where you are located affect Black people differently than white people. You can practice medicine without thinking about how the experience of being Black in America might affect the health of your patients. I know this from personal experience. I did this kind of work without thinking about race and racism. Even now, I… Continue reading

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PA House Passes Proposals to Reduce Taxes for Working People

  By Blog post, Budget, Penn Policy Center, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Budget, Taxation

Four Major Proposals Will Make Pennsylvania Taxes Fairer The Pennsylvania House today passed the second and third of four major tax proposals: an expansion of the Child and Dependent Care Enhancement Tax Credit (HB 1259) and the creation of a state Earned Income Tax (HB 1272). These actions follow on House passage of an expansion of the Property Tax / Rent Rebate Program (HB 1110) on January 6. The House is expected to act soon to pass the repeal of the gross receipts tax and sales and use tax on wireless cell phone services (HB 1138). Taken together, the four bills that have been, or will soon be, passed by the House of Representatives will reduce taxes for working people in Pennsylvania and make our state’s tax system fairer. While there is more to be done to fix our upside-down tax system in which the wealthiest Pennsylvania families pay taxes… Continue reading

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The Cruelty of Our Times

  By Philosophy, Politics, Public Policy

The worst part of our times is that cruelty, which has always come too easily to human beings, has now become the accepted mode of too much of our lives. And for so many reasons. Because we are so divided politically and so threatened by the other side we want to obliterate them. Because we are so threatened by the other side that we can’t abide anyone on our side who doesn’t think and talk exactly as we do, or who fails to rise to the same level of indignation at some offense that we do. Because we talk to so many people at a mediated distance, which makes it impossible to see the immediate harm we do to others with our words. Because political conflict, economic struggles, and endless choices make us so uncertain of ourselves and our future that we seek the constant affirmation that comes with showing… Continue reading

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Sitting on a Powder Keg

  By Democracy, Politics, Tump, US

There seems to me to be a total disconnect between political reporting and commentary in our country and the reality of our politics on the ground. Political reporters and pundits are dying for the world to return to the pre-Trump era (forgetting that in many ways, the Republicans were, in their abuse of gerrymandering and the filibuster and embrace of ideas like the independent judiciary theory, well along the way to rejecting the basic norms of representative democracy long before Trump). Harrisburg reporters focus on the calls for bipartisanship from both sides. So, we are seeing reporting on, for example, the Republican presidential nomination race that normalizes it, as it focuses on who is up and who is down, what the strategies of the candidates are, etc. And yet, on the ground, what do we see? –Trump continues to make wild claims about 2020 and masks racist attacks on Alvin… Continue reading

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Bipartisan: the Word of the Year

  By PA Budget and Policy Center, Pennsylvania, Politics

PBPC director Marc Stier made these remarks to the Press Club of Pennsylvania on Monday, March 13, 2023. “Bipartisan” is the word of the year in Pennsylvania. Leaders such as Governor Shapiro, President Pro Tem Ward, and Speaker McClinton are extolling bipartisanship. And how could they not do so? The extreme and growing partisan division we have seen in this country since 2016 is scary. Journalists like you and policy wonks like me have a personal stake in bipartisanship. I’d love to run what you call a left of center policy shop that can hand a 20-page, carefully researched report to a Republican legislator without him or her immediately dismissing it unread because it contains “liberal facts.” I’m sure many reporters want to go back to the days when it is possible to do Democrats said / Republicans said reporting without worrying about whether you have an ethical responsibility to… Continue reading

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STATEMENT on Rep. Joanna McClinton’s New Role as Speaker of the PA House of Representatives

  By Legislative Politics and Rules, Pennsylvania, Politics

We at the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center are thrilled by the vote to elect Representative Joanna McClinton to be Pennsylvania’s speaker of the House of Representatives. Rep. McClinton is not only a dynamic leader but has been a long-time supporter of many of the policies we have put forward. She is also one of the first leaders in the House of Representatives to have endorsed the agenda of our advocacy campaign, We The People–PA. The election of the first Black woman speaker of the House is also a breakthrough moment that, we hope, is another sign of our state’s commitment to overcoming its legacy of white supremacy. We also want to acknowledge the important role Representative Mark Rozzi has played as speaker. His skillful leadership in his first term made this moment possible and led to the passage last week of bills containing a proposed statute and a constitutional… Continue reading

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STATEMENT: On the Murder of Tyre Nichols

  By White Supremacy and Structural Racism

The murder of Tyre Nichols by five Memphis police officers took place in another state far from Pennsylvania. But it reveals a basic truth about structural racism in policing that sadly characterizes every state in the entire country, including Pennsylvania. Black people are not the only ones who are unjustly attacked and murdered by police officers. But the evidence is clear that they are disproportionately the victims of unjustified police violence. That violence is a product of a deeply flawed approach to public safety, one that asks police forces to maintain order in communities that are afflicted by social ills and economic distress that are beyond their capacity to address. A product of police forces is that, in response to the impossible task placed on them, they can adopt procedures and policies that too often create a toxic relationship between them and the communities they have pledged to serve—one that… Continue reading

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Testimony to Speaker Rozzi’s Workgroup on House Rules

  By Legislative Politics and Rules, PA Budget and Policy Center, Pennsylvania, Politics

Testimony by Marc Stier, director of the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center, to Speaker Rozzi’s Workgroup on House Rules. St. Joseph’s University, Friday, January 27, 2023 My name is Marc Stier. I’m the director of the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center, and I live in the Mt. Airy section of Philadelphia. I want to thank you, Speaker Rozzi, and the members of the workgroup for creating this opportunity for the people of Pennsylvania to speak out about the rules of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. This process has been criticized by those who say that it is delaying the start of the legislative session. But what is more important for the House of Representatives to undertake now than to fix the rules that have too often led to undemocratic results in Harrisburg? Our organization believes that there are two fundamental problems with the way the House has operated in the… Continue reading

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STATEMENT: PA Senate Hijacks Justice for Sexual Abuse Survivors With Passage of Constitutional Amendments Package

  By Pennsylvania, Republicans, Statements

In passing SB 1, the Pennsylvania Senate has hijacked the issue of providing relief to victims of sexual abuse to pass other constitutional amendments. It used a noncontroversial, bipartisan proposal to help pass controversial and partisan amendments that are bad policy and the subject of litigation. The proposal to provide a window for sexual abuse survivors to sue their abusers is an important step toward justice. We strongly support it. The other amendments do not serve the people of Pennsylvania but the political goals of one party. One of the partisan amendments would require voters to submit a government-issued ID every time they vote, even mandating that they provide copies of their IDs along with their mail ballots. We know that requiring a government-issued ID would make it impossible for some people to vote. This would disproportionately affect seniors and Black voters. Requiring voters to include a copy of their… Continue reading