Category: Published Op-Eds

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Time to fix our upside-down tax system

  By Pennsylvania State Taxes, Published Op-Eds, Taxation

Originally published by the York Dispatch, December 23, 2016 Pennsylvania has been struggling with persistent budget deficits since the start of the Great Recession in 2008. And we at the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center have been recommending a “balanced approach” to resolving the deficit from the beginning, one that combines restraint in spending with new revenues. But since 2010, under Gov. Tom Corbett and Gov. Tom Wolf, the General Assembly has adopted an unbalanced approach. Spending has gone down but revenues have gone down faster. From 1994 to 2011, under both Democratic and Republican governors, the state spent 4.7 percent of the state’s GDP. During the Corbett years, that fell to 4.3 percent as spending on education and human services were sharply cut. And while, thanks to Wolf, the state has been able to restore some of those cuts, spending in the last two years remains at the same level as… Continue reading

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The rich can take the hit–to fix the budget they should pay their fair share.

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

Marc Stier | 01/17/2017 Blog This piece originally appeared on Pennlive, December 23, 2016. You remember how Lucille Ball would work her way into some kind of predicament and then look around and wonder how she got there? That’s how our state legislators seem to look at the budget deficit we are stuck with right now. They are looking around wondering how the current Pennsylvania budget deficit, which approaches $3 billion for this year and next year together, happened. But it didn’t just happen. It was the product of a series of long-term and short-term decisions made by legislators, sometimes with the help of our governors. Let’s start, however, with what did not cause the budget deficit, because too many of our legislators, like Lucy, want to blame someone else for the mess they have made. Growth in state spending is not the cause of budget deficits. From 1994 to… Continue reading

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Combine spending restraint with new revenue

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

This piece originally appeared in the Erie Times-News, December 28, 2016. Pennsylvania has been struggling with persistent budget deficits since the start of the Great Recession in 2008. And we at the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center have been recommending a “balanced approach” to resolving the deficit from the beginning, one that combines restraint in spending with new revenues. But since 2010, under Govs. Tom Corbett and Tom Wolf, the General Assembly has adopted an unbalanced approach. Spending has gone down but revenues have gone down faster. From 1994 to 2011, under both Democratic and Republican governors, the state spent 4.7 percent of the state’s gross domestic product. During the Corbett years that fell to 4.3 percent as spending on education and human services were sharply cut. And while, thanks to Wolf, the state has been able to restore some of those cuts, spending in the last two years remains… Continue reading

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Those Feeling the Brunt of the Soda Tax Will Also Feel Benefits

  By PA Budget and Policy Center, Philadelphia, Published Op-Eds, Sugary Drink Tax

Originally published as Those feeling brunt of soda tax will also feel benefits, Philadelphia Daily News, April 19, 2016 THE SUGARY-DRINK tax proposed by Mayor Kenney, also known as the “soda tax,” is controversial because it takes a greater share of the income from poor families than rich ones. And since we at the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center are fundamentally committed to economic justice, we are always inclined to be suspicious of taxes that do that. So it may come as a surprise that we have concluded, overall, that the sugary-drink tax proposed by the mayor is a good idea. Though the costs fall more heavily on those with low incomes, for two reasons, more of the benefit of the tax will go to low-income Philadelphians, as well. The first benefit of the tax flows from how the new revenue will be spent – on pre-K education, community schools, and… Continue reading

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Rep. Grove’s Diatribe Was Off-Key

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

Originally published in the York Daily Record, January 13, 2016 It’s always funny and sometimes sad when national entertainment trends filter down to our local communities. The rapper or metal band in our community may have picked up some of the moves and rhythms of the big stars, but they seem to be pale imitations at our local venues. That’s how Rep. Seth Grove’s diatribe against Governor Tom Wolf comes across. Grove wants to sound like one of the agitated and aggrieved conservative radio stars or Republican presidential candidates (who are hard to tell apart these days). Like them, he seeks to shock us and motivate his followers with personal attacks. Like them, he seeks to create a rhetorical whirlwind that hides inconvenient facts. But his performance seems off-key here in Pennsylvania. (And, to his credit, he doesn’t seem entirely comfortable with it, either.) Gov. Tom Wolf is not some distant, high-handed… Continue reading

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Take that, Mr. Steffens: We are content no more

  By Pennsylvania, Progressive Politics, Published Op-Eds

Published in the Daily New, Mon, Nov. 14, 2005 THE BIGGEST loser in Tuesday’s election wasn’t on the ballot. It was Lincoln Steffens, the muckraker who coined the phrase “corrupt but content” to describe Philadelphia politics. We can now retire the phrase. We may be corrupt, but the election returns show that we are not content anymore. When almost 87 percent of the voters support a proposal that takes a step toward cleaning up politics, you know we’re not content with politics as usual. (Ballot proposals generally win with about 70 percent of the vote. And the ethics question won a higher percentage of the vote than popular DA Lynne Abraham who ran against an seriously underfunded opponent.) When an election without a single race whose outcome was in doubt draws not the expected 9 percent but 14 percent of the voters, you know people want things to change. And when… Continue reading

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The kind of WMAN We Need

  By NW Philly, Philadelphia, Published Op-Eds, Urbanism, West Mt. Airy Neighbors

Published in the Mt. Airy Times Express, June 2005 West Mt. Airy Neighbors (WMAN) is just beginning our annual membership drive. This, year, our membership drive is more important than ever. The results of the membership drive will determine the kind of organization we will be in the next few years and beyond. Continue reading

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Trolleys, the public good, and political will

  By Published Op-Eds, Transportation

Chestnut Hill Local, June 16, 2005 Many of us involved in public transit issues in Northwest Philadelphia are eager to see the return of the 23 Trolley on Germantown Avenue. Indeed, public transit activists around the world are seeking to create or recreate the trolley systems, which now go under the name “light rail.” Trolleys are much more energy efficient than buses. Each trolley can carry far more people than a bus, while at the same time giving each rider a bit more room and a much smoother ride. Most people prefer riding trolley to buses and evidence from around the world suggests that transit ridership declines when buses replace trolleys.   Ridership has declined on the 23 line by at least a third since the buses started running in place of trolleys on Germantown Avenue. Reviving the 23 trolley would be particularly beneficial in Northwest Philadelphia where the trolley could… Continue reading

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We can't afford to flunk transit

  By Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Published Op-Eds, Transportation

The Philadelphia Inquirer, December 16, 2004 As a teacher, I know that review sessions are useful, so the end of an academic semester and calendar year is a good time for a review of public transit 101. A final exam is coming up soon, both for our political leaders and for us citizens. We all are in danger of failing. Our semester’s project has been to put pressure on our political leaders to make sure that there are no service reductions or fare increases at SEPTA. That means all of us should be contacting the leaders of the Democratic and Republican parties in Harrisburg, Gov. Rendell and Speaker of the House John Perzel, as well as our own legislators. It is easy to find excuses for not doing our homework. SEPTA is an unloved course for most of us. It often is unresponsive both to low grades and constructive criticism.… Continue reading

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SEPTA is beyond band-aid fixes

  By Published Op-Eds, Transportation

Center City Press, October 20, 2004 The crisis in transit funding is real. SEPTA is facing a $62 million deficit for the current year. Without new, dedicated funding for public transportation from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, SEPTA will be forced to institute a fare increase of 25% coupled with a gigantic reduction in service of 20%. Weekend service will be eliminated as will much evening service. This, we know, sounds familiar. It seems that SEPTA threatens fare increases and service reductions every year. And every year, at the last moment, SEPTA receives an infusion of funds, its proposed cuts and fare increases are rescinded, and life goes on much as it has before. So why should we believe the threat this year? One answer is that SEPTA was not crying wolf in the past. Other major transit agencies have what is called dedicated funding, tax revenues that automatically go to… Continue reading