Category: My Work

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Help for Your Thanksgiving Day Tax Debates

  By Federal Taxes, PA Budget and Policy Center, PBPC Blog posts, Taxation

If your family is anything like ours, politics tends to come up around the Thanksgiving Day table and diverse opinions are often put forward, including by one or more of our cranky uncles who mutter about “those people” and the “damn government.” Since your cranky uncles like mine no doubt listens to Rush and his friends, they are going to present you with a lot of misinformation about the GOP federal tax cut bill. But have no fear as we have your back.   Claim: Of course we are cutting taxes for the rich and not for the poor. Only the rich pay income taxes. Answer: This is the myth that helped cost Mitt Romney the election in 2012. It’s totally misleading. It is true that in good economic years, about 40% of households don’t owe federal taxes. But: 1. If we include federal payroll taxes, only about 14% of… Continue reading

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The Rich Get Richer: Why the Senate Tax Bill Is a Total Sham

  By Budget analysis, Federal Taxes, Inequality, PA Budget and Policy Center, Taxation

The Senate Republican tax plan would provide enormous, permanent tax cuts to high-income households and corporations – all while adding at least $1.5 trillion to the deficit. And to pay for its permanent tax cuts for corporations, the bill would raise taxes on many middle-income families and repeal the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate, increasing the number of uninsured Pennsylvanians by 505,000 and raising individual market premiums nationwide by 10 percent. Congressional Republicans’ skewed and fiscally irresponsible tax plan would raise taxes on many middle-income families and drive up health insurance premiums to pay for permanent corporate tax cuts. The tax plan would fail Pennsylvania’s families and economy. The House passed its bill on November 16. Senate Republicans are moving quickly to ram through their tax bill the week after Thanksgiving and work with the House to send a final bill to President Trump by the end of the year.… Continue reading

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Why the House Tax Proposal is Bad for Pennsylvanians

  By Federal Taxes, Memos, PA Budget and Policy Center

While the tax cuts proposed in the House of Representatives plan may not be the largest in American history, they are very likely the ones most weighted to benefit the very richest Americans. This press memo, shared on November 13, 2017, outlines why the House of Representative’s tax proposal is bad for Pennsylvanians. Click here to print or read full screen.  Continue reading

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On the U.S. House GOP Tax Bill

  By Federal Taxes, Statements, Taxation

This press statement, released on November 2, 2017, shares our reaction to the House GOP tax bill and how it will disproportionately benefit the top 1% of Pennsylvania families. “While we won’t have a detailed analysis of the U.S. House tax cut bill released today for a week or so, it is a direct descendant of previous GOP-Trump tax plans, so the rough impact of the bill becoming law is fairly clear. “Republican rhetoric that portrays the bill as benefiting the middle class is hollow. We expect that around half of the benefit of the legislation will flow to the top 1% of Pennsylvanians — those with an average income of $1.7 million. Pennsylvanians in the bottom 60% of families will see little benefit. And because of limitations on the deductibility of state and local taxes, a significant portion of middle-class and upper-middle families will see their taxes increase under… Continue reading

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In Truth, The PA Budget Is Still Not Done

  By Budget, PA Budget and Policy Center, PBPC Blog posts, Pennsylvania Budget

A quick take If the governor signs the tax and fiscal code bills passed this week, or allows them to become law, a funding plan for the Pennsylvania Budget for 2017-2018 that technically allows for a balanced budget will be complete. But the work of the General Assembly is not finished because this funding plan not only fails to address the long-term budget problems faced by the state, it deepens those problems. The result will be that the fiscal year beginning in July 2018 will be in deficit and that, unless the state changes direction, those deficits will no doubt increase in subsequent years. (Click the title for more) A genuine bi-partisan effort on the part of the governor, a majority of the Pennsylvania Senate, and what appears to be a majority of the Pennsylvania House sought to enact a shale tax, that is a severance tax on natural gas… Continue reading

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  By PA Budget and Policy Center, Pennsylvania Budget, Statements

Marc Stier, director of the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center, released the following statement on the decision by the House to cancel session days on October 23, 24, and 25: “We at the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center generally don’t comment on when the House chooses to be in session. But the decision by Speaker Mike Turzai and Majority Leader Dave Reed to cancel voting sessions next week—on October 23, 24, and 25—and to do so the day after the House Finance Committee approved a shale tax bill on a bi-partisan basis reeks of both chicanery and desperation. “For weeks, Democratic and Republican legislators in the House have been working together to devise a shale tax bill that could win bipartisan support in the House. They have been supported by a rapidly expanding group of activists who have sent thousands of letters, made thousands of phone calls, and have recently… Continue reading

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On the State House Revenue Plan

  By PA Budget and Policy Center, PBPC Blog posts, Pennsylvania Budget, Statements

Update noon, October 18: There is talk around the Capitol that a shale tax will come out of the House Finance Committee today and coming to a vote on the House floor later this week. This legislation must be part of the budget this year. It is the difference between a budget that takes a step forward to address our long-term budget problems and one that makes those problems worse. Marc Stier, director of the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center, released the following statement on the revenue plan passed by the Pennsylvania House of Representative last night: “The tax code bill passed by the Pennsylvania House of Representatives last night is a white flag raised by the leaders of both parties, who are evidently willing to surrender to another year of make-believe budgeting rather than fight for a solution to the state’s persistent budget shortfalls. “A shale tax, which would… Continue reading

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The Soda Tax is Working

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

  Testimony on the Philadelphia Beverage TaxSenate Local Government CommitteeScott Wagner, ChairOctober 17, 2017   Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, My name is Marc Stier. I’m the director of the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center. PBPC is an organization that works for broadly shared prosperity in the Commonwealth by means of research, advocacy, and organizing on public policy issues. Why we supported the Philly Beverage Tax We had intense discussion among our staff members about how to view the beverage tax. We typically oppose taxes that are narrowly focused or that fall more heavily on those with low incomes than those with high incomes. While we believe that the benefits of the programs funded by the tax—in particular, pre-k education and rebuilding community centers and playgrounds—also particularly benefit those with low incomes in the city, that was not enough for us to support it. Other taxes could be… Continue reading

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The GOP Federal Tax Proposal: Multiple Reasons to Worry

  By PA Budget and Policy Center, PBPC Blog posts, Pennsylvania, Taxation

The outline of the tax proposal released by President Trump and Republican House and Senate leaders should worry all Pennsylvanians for multiple reasons. First, the plan calls for adding $1.5 trillion to the deficit over the next ten years. This is remarkably hypocritical, given that Republicans blamed President Obama for deficits even as they declined year after year after the end of the Great Recession. And it is economically risky at a time when the economy is growing. Republicans claim that tax cuts will generate much faster economic growth. This is unbelievable, given the record of previous huge tax cuts during times of economic growth. And, of course, most professional economists, on both the Left and Right, do not believe it at all. Second, the likely result of added deficits will be new pressure to cut federal spending to balance those deficits, with most of those cuts coming from health… Continue reading

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Graham-Cassidy Repeal Bill — Just Plain Bad for Pennsylvania

  By ACA, PA Budget and Policy Center, PBPC Blog posts, US

As I write this, it is possible that the Graham-Cassidy bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act and make major changes to the traditional Medicaid program is already dying or dead. Two Republican members of the Senate, McCain of Arizona and Paul of Kentucky, have said they will vote against it. Senator Collins of Maine has announced that she is leaning against it. I’m hopeful that Senator Murkowski of Alaska will all announce that she is against it.  And when that happens, I expect a substantial group of Senators will join them because this bill is truly dangerous to every state and the only reason it is even being considered is that Senate Republicans fear the short-term political costs of disappointing their base voters and funders more than they fear the long-term costs of doing great harm to their constituents. Once it is clear that there is no path forward… Continue reading