Category: My Work

No comments

Marc Stier: We Need a Budget for All Pennsylvanians

  By Budget, PBPC Blog posts, Pennsylvania Budget, Published op-eds

Originally published at the TribLive.com on July 6, 2022. The last few weeks of public debate in Harrisburg have been deeply revealing of the different approaches of the two parties. One of those parties has been trying to bring people in our state together. The other has been trying to divide us. One party has seriously addressed real issues we all care about. The other has been making issues up so they can turn Pennsylvanian against Pennsylvanian. All Pennsylvanians share some common interests; no matter where we live in the state, what we look like, how rich or poor we are, or what work we do, we want jobs to be created and wages to grow. We want to be able to afford the necessities of life — food, clothing, shelter, health care and transportation to get to work, do errands, and see family and friends. Our well-being doesn’t just… Continue reading

No comments

STATEMENT: We The People – PA on the State Budget Negotiations

  By Budget, PA Budget and Policy Center, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Budget

It appears that state budget negotiations are continuing and we may have some announcement of a budget deal in the next day or so. We The People – PA will release another short statement when we have some details. But today we want to comment on the last few weeks of public debate in Harrisburg because it’s deeply revealing of the different approaches of the two parties. One of those parties has been trying to bring people in our state together. The other has been trying to divide us. One party has seriously addressed real issues we all care about. The other has been making issues up so they can turn Pennsylvanian against Pennsylvanian. All Pennsylvanians share some common interests; no matter where we live in the state, what we look like, how rich or poor we are, or what work we do, we want jobs to be created and… Continue reading

No comments

Tax Relief for Working Poor Pennsylvanians in the Next Budget

  By Pennsylvania, Poverty, Public Policy, Statements, Taxation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:   June 30, 2022 Contact: Kirstin Snow, snow@pennbpc.org To: Members and staff of the General Assembly, editorial board members, and political writers From: Marc Stier, Director and Diana Polson, Senior Policy Analyst, PA Budget and Policy Center Re: Tax Relief for Working Poor Pennsylvanians in the Next Budget Some discussions about providing tax relief for low-income working Pennsylvanians appear to be part of the current budget negotiations. We want to strongly encourage the General Assembly to take such action by instituting a state version of the federal earned income tax credit. This is especially imperative if the General Assembly is likely to cut corporate tax cuts now. If there are funds to cut taxes for many of the richest Pennsylvanians, there should be funds to cut taxes for low-income, working Pennsylvanians. As we have extensively demonstrated, the PA tax system is unfair, with low-income families paying state… Continue reading

No comments

New PBPC Poll on Taxing Corporations and the Ultra-Rich and the Minimum Wage

  By Corporate Taxes, PA Budget and Policy Center, PBPC Blog posts, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Taxes, Polling

PBPC commissioned Data for Progress to do a poll of likely voters on a limited number of issues that are at play in the current budget negotiations. The polling memo is below. Three things to note. First, there is overwhelming support (73%) for putting the minimum wage on a path to $15 per hour over four years and thereafter having a yearly cost of living increase (77%). Second, there is overwhelming opposition to cutting corporate taxes. Seventy percent of voters prefer tax increases for billionaires and corporations; only 25% want to see them cut. More than 78% of likely voters want to see the Delaware loophole closed so that multinational corporations can no longer hide their Pennsylvania profits from our Corporate Net Income Tax. And when asked whether some of the $12 billion accumulated state surplus should be devoted to cutting taxes on corporations and the wealthy, only 2% said… Continue reading

No comments

Make a PA Earned Income Tax Credit Part of the Budget

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

To: Members and staff of the General Assembly, editorial board members, and political writers From: Marc Stier, Director and Diana Polson, Senior Policy Analyst, PA Budget and Policy Center Re: Tax Relief for Working Poor Pennsylvanians in the Next Budget Date: June 29, 2022 Some discussions about providing tax relief for low-income working Pennsylvanians appear to be a part of the current budget negotiations. We want to strongly encourage the General Assembly to take such action by instituting a state version of the federal earned income tax credit. This is especially imperative if the General Assembly is likely to cut corporate tax cuts now. If there are funds to cut taxes for many of the richest Pennsylvanians, there should be funds to cut taxes for low-income working Pennsylvanians. As we have extensively demonstrated, the PA tax system is unfair, with low-income families paying state and local taxes at twice the… Continue reading

No comments

Who Runs Harrisburg? You or The Corporate Elite?

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

Originally published in the Pennsylvania Capital-Star, June 29, 2022.  By Nick Pressley and Marc Stier Every rumor we hear about the state budget negotiations tells us that a reduction in the corporate net income tax (CNIT) rate is possible. It is unclear whether that corporate tax cut also includes some of Gov. Tom Wolf’s “add-back” provisions, which would make multinational corporations that currently pay nothing pay something. It appears that Republicans continue to oppose closing the Delaware loophole by enacting combined reporting. Every rumor we hear also says that raising the minimum wage may not be included because Republicans oppose it.  Are we talking about cutting corporate taxes because it is a good idea? And is raising the minimum wage less likely because it is a bad idea? I’ll come back to these questions below, but the short answers are “no” and “no.” If they are not bad ideas, then is it hard to raise the minimum wage and easier… Continue reading

No comments

Statement on Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade Decision

  By Abortion, Feminism, PA Budget and Policy Center, Pennsylvania, Statements

  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 24, 2022 Contacts: Kirstin Snow, snow@pennbpc.org   Statement on Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade Decision By Marc Stier, Director, PA Budget & Policy Center The right to abortion is paramount to the right to personal autonomy. There is no choice as life-defining as that of whether to bring a child into the world. Without the right to have an abortion and access to the procedure, pregnant people are denied the autonomy and freedom to make decisions about their own health, well-being, and the course of their lives. Banning abortion would limit the rights of half the population: women, transgender, nonbinary, and gender non-conforming people, undermining their ability to be full participants in our political, social, economic, and cultural life. And the radical opinion signed by six justices of the Supreme Court not only undermines the right to abortion but is a threat to other kinds of… Continue reading

No comments

Reply to the Pennsylvania Chamber of Commerce’s LTE about Corporate Taxes

  By Corporate Taxes, PBPC Blog posts, Pennsylvania State Taxes

The Pennsylvania Chamber of Commerce has responded to our recent op-ed about corporate taxes with a letter to the editor and makes two points, to which I will reply. First, it says that the Delaware loophole was closed a number of years ago by legislation that created some of the add-backs Governor Wolf wants to put in place this year. Our answer: if that legislation really closed the Delaware loophole, then more add-backs and / or combined reporting wouldn’t have any effect and the Chamber would have no reason to oppose them. The proof that the Chamber is blowing smoke is that it opposes further efforts to close the Delaware loophole because its members know that the loophole is still open and closing it would make multinational corporations pay what they actually owe. The notion that combined reporting is complicated and would lead to lawsuits would be news to the… Continue reading

No comments

This Budget We Have The Chance To Move PA Forward. We Can’t Miss It.

  By PA Budget and Policy Center, Pennsylvania Budget, Published op-eds

Originally published by the PA Capital-Star on June 16, 2022 For more than a decade, the Republican majority in the General Assembly has called for austerity. And it appears that a huge state budget surplus — without counting one-time American Rescue Plan funds — of more than $5 billion isn’t stopping them from doing so again. So, the question Pennsylvanians need to ask themselves is this: If not now, when? The results of a decade of austerity are easy to see. We are not a poor state. Our economy ranks sixth in the nation in total gross domestic product. And yet: We rank in the bottom seven states for support for higher education. We rank in the bottom seven in state funding of K-12 education and thus have the most inequitably funded schools in the country. We are falling behind neighboring states in the percentage of 3- and 4-year-olds in pre-K… Continue reading

No comments

Keeping Property Taxes Lower in Philly Is the Right Idea

  By PA Budget and Policy Center, PBPC Blog posts, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Taxes, Policy briefs, Property Taxes, Taxation

Philadelphia is currently debating what to do with the additional revenues generated by the increase in property assessments. One side wants to use those additional revenues to moderate the growth in property taxes by raising the Homestead Exemption amount and expanding the Longtime Owner Occupants Program or “LOOP” (a tax relief program for low- and moderate-income homeowners whose property assessments, increase by 50% or more over the prior year). The other side wants to use the additional revenues to cut business and wage taxes. Our view at the PA Budget and Policy Center is that moderating the growth in property taxes is the right choice. That path will make our tax system fairer and is a better way to spur population and job growth than lowering business and wage taxes. The experiences of Boston and San Francisco, as well as Philadelphia’s experience with property tax abatement, shows us that Philadelphia’s… Continue reading