Category: My Work

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Why We Should Raise the Minimum Wage in Pennsylvania to $15 Per Hour

  By Minimum Wage, Talking points

Click here to print or read full screen.   A high minimum wage ensures we have an economy that works for all of us. It protects workers and provides a dignified life. The minimum wage is a critical protection for workers—like the right to form unions, the social safety net, and a tax system that asks the rich to pay at a higher rate than the poor. These policies ensure that our economy works for all of us, not just the wealthy owners of huge corporations. We show respect for the dignity of work by ensuring all full-time workers are paid a decent wage that allows them to support themselves and their families. Opponents of a higher minimum wage want the work but won’t provide the dignity. Since 1947, workers’ share of the benefits of the United States economy has shrunk drastically. But our economy is more productive than ever.… Continue reading

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PA House Passes Proposals to Reduce Taxes for Working People

  By Blog post, Budget, 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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Pennsylvania Policy Center Statement on General Fund Budget Passed by PA House

  By Budget, Penn Policy Center, Pennsylvania Budget, Statement

For Immediate Release Contact: Kirstin Snow, Communications Director, snow@pennpolicy.org; 215-510-9336 Harrisburg, PA–Marc Stier, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Policy Center, today released the following statement after the Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed HB 611, a 2023-24 General Fund Budget, on party line vote. “In March, Governor Shapiro proposed a budget that had the right priorities but proposed too little spending in certain key areas, including K-12 education, workforce development, and housing. The budget passed by the House of Representatives today follows the governor’s priorities but adds spending in areas we believe deserved additional support. That spending is supported by additional revenue expected in both the current fiscal year and in years 2023-24. Going beyond the governor’s budget proposal, the House budget includes: ·      An additional $100 million in basic education funding ·      A $225 million Level Up supplement to the 108 most underfunded school districts in the state. ·      An… Continue reading

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The Real Cost of Opening a Window for Sexual Abuse Lawsuits in Pennsylvania

  By Sexual and gender equality, Sexual harassment, Testimony

I was asked to testify about the claims made in a paper by the Susquehanna Valley Center for Public Policy that opening a two-year window for childhood victims of sexual abuse to bring lawsuits against their abusers might cost public schools in Pennsylvania between $10 billion and $32 billion. On its face, the claim sounds utterly absurd. (Not to mention irrelevant; if that is the cost of doing justice for those who have suffered from sexual abuse, then that is what we should be prepared to pay.) But as I delved into the details of the paper, I discovered that it was based on what, frankly, was a horror show of faulty research methods and statistical analyses. I was tempted to say—but in the setting of an official hearing in the Capitol, did not say—that this paper would have received no better than a D grade in the research methods… Continue reading

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Pennsylvania Policy Center Announces Leadership Team

  By Blog post

For Immediate Release June 8, 2023 Contact: Kirstin Snow, snow@pennpolicy.org Pennsylvania Policy Center Announces Leadership Team PA’s State Affiliate to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Harrisburg, PA—Today, Pennsylvania Policy Center’s (PPC) executive director, Marc Stier, announced five progressive politics and organizing professionals joined the state’s affiliate to the national Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. In addressing the recent hires, Stier said, “The Pennsylvania Policy Center aims, through its research and policy development, to create the tools that political officials, opinion leaders, grassroots organizations, and the people of PA need to expand our vibrant democracy, secure our freedom, and seek economic justice in Pennsylvania. I am confident the team we have built, and are continuing to build, will see that to fruition.” New team members include: Levana Layendecker, Deputy Director / Chief Operating Officer – Levana comes to the Pennsylvania Policy Center with more than twenty years of… Continue reading

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Why We Need a Property Tax Circuit Breaker in Pennsylvania

  By Property Taxes, Statement, Taxation

tatement of Marc Stier at Senator Jimmy Dillon / Representative Robert Freeman press conference on establishing a property tax circuit breaker in Pennsylvania on April 25, 2023 I’m very pleased to stand with Senator Jimmy Dillon and Representative Robert Freeman in support of establishing a property tax circuit breaker in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center first proposed such a plan in 2015 and our new organization, the Pennsylvania Policy Center, continues to support it. Representative Freeman has long championed it, and we are glad to see Senator Dillion become a champion of it as well. Pennsylvania has long had a serious problem: our tax system is unfair. State and local taxes in our commonwealth place a much greater burden on families with low incomes and moderate incomes than those with high incomes. Just to give you an idea of how unfair our tax system is, consider this: The… Continue reading

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Pennsylvania Policy Center to Launch in Effort to Improve State Policies and Strengthen Communities

  By Penn Policy Center

HARRISBURG, PA – The Pennsylvania Policy Center, a nonprofit conducting policy research and analysis, will launch next month with the goal of expanding opportunity and promoting equity throughout Pennsylvania. Led by Marc Stier, who has served in leadership roles at policy advocacy organizations for more than two decades, the Center will identify solutions to some of the most pressing problems facing Pennsylvanians from Erie to Philadelphia and Scranton to Pittsburgh. The Center will launch on May 3, 2023. “Regardless of whether you live in rural, urban, or suburban Pennsylvania, most of us are facing the same challenges,” said Stier. “We will focus our research on policies that improve people’s day-to-day lives and strengthen our communities. Our goal is to ensure children get a quality education, working people get the training and support they need to build a better life, and all Pennsylvanians have access to high-quality public services and programs… Continue reading

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A Fair Share Tax for Pennsylvania–Updated for 2023

  By Diana Polson, Pennsylvania Budget, Pennsylvania State Taxes, Policy reports

By Marc Stier and Diana Polson Pennsylvania has long suffered from a tax system that is both highly regressive, taking a larger share of income from low-income and moderate-income families than high-income families, and that does not raise sufficient revenue to meet the needs of Pennsylvanians. In the recent past, inadequate revenues have led to a structural budget deficit and will continue to do so in the near future. In turn, this has led to what we call a public investment deficit: a lack of funding for critical needs that undermines both opportunity and economic growth. Just one example of the public investment deficit in Pennsylvania is the recent decision by Commonwealth Court President Judge Jubelirer saying the state fails to meet its constitutional obligation to provide a “thorough and efficient” education to all K-12 school children. This paper puts forward the Fair Share Tax proposal, a major step toward… 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