Category: My Work

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Pennsylvanians From Across The CommonwealthJoined We The People – PA Campaign & Partners to Call for Fair Budget for All Pennsylvanians

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

By Kirstin Snow and Marc Stier  Harrisburg, PA – For the first time in years, the Commonwealth will have a surplus of more than $15 billion from state budget surpluses and unspent federal pandemic relief funding at the end of this fiscal year. If this is not the moment to enact a budget that works to help hard-working Pennsylvanians and their communities, when will that time come? Earlier today, the We The People – PA campaign and its partners gathered alongside legislative leaders on the capitol steps to demand a just budget for all Pennsylvanians. During this rally, activists called on legislators to stop hoarding and to spend Pennsylvania’s accumulated surplus the way it’s intended to be spent—meeting the state’s responsibilities to our families and communities and to our democracy. The state has the money to do big things this year, and even a bold, inclusive spending bill would leave a… Continue reading

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Pennsylvania’s Financial Outlook Just Got Better…Again

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

by Diana Polson and Marc Stier Pennsylvania’s financial outlook for 2022/23 just got better… again! In April 2022, state revenues came in even higher than expected. In March 2022, total revenues were 8.5% higher than they were expected to be at this time of the year, and by the end of April 2022 they rose to 12.4% higher. Our previous estimate, after the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue’s March report, was that Pennsylvania will have a surplus of between $11.2 billion and $12 billion by the end of June 2022. But, as table 2 shows, after April’s rosy financial picture, our updated projection is $13 billion to $15.3 billion. Table 1 Fiscal year collections to date for 2021-22 are now $4.5 billion, or 12.4%, above estimates. If in the last two months of this fiscal year, revenues come in according to the estimates of last June, the state budget surplus will… Continue reading

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STATEMENT: The Right to Have an Abortion Is Critical to the Well-Being of PA and Pennsylvanians

  By Abortion, PA Budget and Policy Center, Statements

Among the rights that are critical to all human beings is the right to personal autonomy—that is the right to make fundamental choices about our bodies and the course of our lives. There is no choice as life-defining as that of whether to bring a new 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. If those who oppose the right to abortion were seriously concerned about the well-being of fetuses and their potential to become children, they would focus their attention on ensuring that all families, including those… Continue reading

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STATEMENT: It’s Not the Time or Way to Cut Corporate Taxes

  By Corporate Taxes, PA Budget and Policy Center, Pennsylvania State Taxes, Statements

Originally published by the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center, April 26, 2022.  Statement on HB 1960, which passed the PA House of Representatives today When the American Rescue Plan (ARP) was enacted, we warned that Republicans in Pennsylvania would use these funds—and the state surplus generated by the faster economic recovery the ARP created—to cut corporate taxes instead of helping Pennsylvanians deal with the effects of the pandemic. Sadly, today that is exactly what happened. The PA General Assembly has repeatedly failed to help Pennsylvanians who are still hurting from both the loss of income caused by business decline and the current inflation created by a rapid recovery and Russia’s war against Ukraine. The General Assembly has doggedly rejected Governor Wolf’s proposals to provide assistance to Pennsylvanians with low incomes or those who are having trouble affording child care or housing or who are struggling to pay back student loans.… Continue reading

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Guest Commentary: Is This Really Taxadelphia?

  By PA Budget and Policy Center, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Taxes, Published op-eds, Taxation

The director of a state budget and policy organization has an answer that may surprise you BY MARC STIER Originally published in The Philadelphia Citizen, April  21, 2022 “Philadelphia is one of the highest-taxed cities in the United States.” But you knew that, right? It’s common knowledge. Everyone knows it. Everyone also knows that Philadelphia has been growing slowly because of its high taxes.Beware of what “everyone knows.” Sometimes ideas get repeated so often, they become common knowledge that turns out to be wrong.The truth is that of the 30 largest cities in the United States, Philadelphia ranks 13th in tax revenue per person per year. The falsehood that Philadelphia has one of the highest tax rates in the country is not a neutral fact. It has political implications. It reinforces the narrative that blames Philadelphia’s high taxes for its anemic job growth. At $4,302, Philadelphia’s per person revenue is… Continue reading

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Build a Brighter PA

  By American Rescue Plan, COVID-19, We The People–PA

Thanks to the American Rescue Plan providing grants to all Pennsylvanians, additional funds to Pennsylvania families with children through the child tax credit and higher subsidies for health insurance, we have seen a faster economic recovery than we might have imagined a year ago. And the Infrastructure Bill will help keep the recovery growing by creating 80,000 jobs each year by funding massive new investments in roads, bridges, and public transit, as well as the in the clean energy we need to limit climate change.  But while the federal government has done its part, the state government has not. The economic recovery of thestate lags behind that of other states. Our unemployment rate is well above the national average. And there are many needs that the state could and should be meeting with ARP funds. And many people are still suffering from both the hangover of the pandemic recession and the recent… Continue reading