Category: Memos

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PRESS MEMO: New Estimates of the Loss of Federal Funding to Pennsylvania from the Senate Health Care Bill

  By ACA, Health Care, Memos, PA Budget and Policy Center, US

The Manatt Health Group and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation have released a study on the impact of the Senate health care bill, the Better Reconciliation Act of 2017, on the states. Their estimates of the impact of the bill confirms our recent study showing that Pennsylvania will suffer devastating reductions in federal funding for Medicaid. It also offers some more fine-grained detail on the nature of these reductions. MEMO To: Editorial Page Editors, Editorial Board Members, Columnists, and Other Interested Parties From: Marc Stier, Director, Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center Date: July 7, 2017 Re: New Estimates of the Loss of Federal Funding to Pennsylvania from the Senate Health Care Bill The Manatt Health Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation have released a new study of the impact of the Senate health care bill, the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017, on the states. Their estimates of the impact of the bill confirms… Continue reading

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Effects of U.S. Senate Health Care Bill on Pennsylvania

  By ACA, Health Care, Memos, PA Budget and Policy Center

MEMO To: Interested Parties From: Marc Stier, Director, Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center Date: June 28, 2017 Re: Effects of U.S. Senate Health Care Bill on Pennsylvania The Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center will be releasing a number of briefs on the effects of the U.S. Senate health care bill in the next few days. You can see our initial statement in response to the CBO scoring of the bill here. Below is our first brief on the effects of the bill on Pennsylvania. Who Shall Live and Who Shall Die – Estimating Number of Premature Deaths Due to the GOP Health Care Plan Legislators, like God, make decisions all the time about who shall live and who shall die. So many public policies, from those that control access to medicinal and recreation drugs, to those that set speed limits and safety standards for the roads, to those that help people… Continue reading

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On HB 1885, the Sanctuary Bill

  By Immigration, Memos, PA Budget and Policy Center

Legislation rushed to the finish line in an election year is notorious for being both badly crafted and motivated by less than pristine motives. And that certainly goes for HB 1885, the anti-sanctuary city bill passed by the House recently and currently under consideration in the Senate this week. There is a lot wrong with the bill, starting with the intention of its sponsors to appeal to the anti-immigrant voters whose ire has been inflamed by Donald Trump and continuing on to its likely consequence of leading to racial profiling that undermines police-community relationships, and thus effective policing, in (documented and undocumented) immigrant communities. But here I want to focus on the potential economic costs of the bill to the counties and cities of Pennsylvania—costs that have been barely considered in the fast-track legislative debate on it. The House Fiscal Note on the bill does not even try to identify,… Continue reading

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Higher Education Funding in Pennsylvania

  By Higher Education, Memos, PA Budget and Policy Center

In this press memo, dated October 14, 2016, PBPC shares some of our most recent findings about the funding of higher education in light of a strike deadline by members of the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties (APSCUF) against the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) looming. To: Education reporters, editorial board members and columnists From: Marc Stier, Director, Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center Subject: Higher Education Funding in Pennsylvania Date: October 14, 2016 With the October 19 deadline for a strike by members of the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties (APSCUF) against the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) looming, I thought it might be useful for us to share again with you some of our findings, and that of our national partners, about the funding of higher education in Pennsylvania. There are many important issues at stake in the dispute… Continue reading

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Racial and Economic Patterns in the Consumption of Sugary Drinks

  By Memos, PA Budget and Policy Center, Sugary Drink Tax

To: Members of City Council, Editorial Boards and Opinion Writers From: Marc Stier, Director, Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center Date: June 5, 2016 Re: Racial and Economic Patterns in the Consumption of Sugary Drinks The continuing debate about Mayor Kenney’s proposal to tax sugary drinks is multi-faceted. We at the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center have expressed our support for the policy on a variety of grounds. But here we want to address only one issue – an important misconception – about who consumes sugary drinks. A common theme of those who criticize the sugary drink tax is that it is doubly regressive. Critics say it is regressive first because, like all sales taxes, it takes a higher percentage of the income of those who have low incomes than those who have high incomes. And they say it is regressive, second, because those with low incomes and from ethnic and… Continue reading