Category: Stephen Herzenberg

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Calm Before the Storm: An Analysis of Governor Wolf’s Proposed Budget for 2020-21

  By Budget analysis, Diana Polson, PA Budget and Policy Center, Pennsylvania Budget, Stephen Herzenberg

Originally published by KRC-PBPC here, By Diana Polson, Marc Stier, and Stephen Herzenberg We were in the last two weeks of work on this analysis of the governor’s proposed budget for the fiscal year beginning on July 1, 2020, when the political and economic world in which we’d been living tilted on its axis. The coronavirus that is responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic was creating havoc in China, both to the health of the population and to the economy of the country. It is now clear that the United States is heading into a recession. We should expect that our economy, and indeed the whole world, will suffer for some time. A recession will have a severe impact on the budget of Pennsylvania with regard to both revenues and expenditure. Revenues will certainly decline. And expenditures for human services—especially for Medical Assistance (Pennsylvania’s Medicaid program), Unemployment Compensation, SNAP (formerly called… Continue reading

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Corporate Tax Cuts Since 2002 Cost PA $4.2B Annually

  By Corporate Taxes, Diana Polson, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Budget, Pennsylvania State Taxes, Stephen Herzenberg, Taxation

By Stephen Herzenberg, Diana Polson, and Marc Stier Closing Delaware loophole, instituting worldwide combined reporting would level the playing field for small businesses and generate over $700 million a year to invest in PA communities This paper focuses on the details of one part of this story: the cuts in corporate taxes in Pennsylvania since 2002 that have reduced revenues by what is now $4.2 billion per year and have created a tax system that is among the most unfair in the country.   Pennsylvania’s tax–cutting, shaped by the corporate-sponsored narrative, has taken a variety of forms. Under both Republican and Democratic governors, we have entirely eliminated one of our two major taxes on corporations, the Capital Stock and Franchise Tax (CSFT). We have also allowed businesses to lower their reported profits subject to the largest remaining corporate tax—the Corporate Net Income (CNI) tax. And we have continued to give multi-state corporations free rein to cook their books and exploit corporate tax loopholes to their reported income subject to the CNI. The result is that 73% of corporations that do business in Pennsylvania… Continue reading

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Analysis of Governor Wolf’s Proposed 2019-20 State Budget

  By Budget analysis, Diana Polson, PA Budget and Policy Center, Pennsylvania Budget, Public Policy, Stephen Herzenberg

INTRODUCTION Some important things have changed in Pennsylvania politics as a result of the 2018 election. But the basic political dynamic that constrains our budget politics remains. We have a Democratic governor and a Republican-controlled General Assembly. And more importantly, we face an ideological division that partly maps onto the partisan one. On one side are those who believe that the only path to prosperity for our state is to cut taxes for the rich and for businesses, cut spending, and hold wages down. On the other side—where the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center stands—are those who believe that prosperity for everyone requires us to raise wages and expand the safety net that protects those who need our help, invest in people through new educational initiatives at all levels and in workforce training, and invest in building our public infrastructure and protecting our environment. The priorities for spending found in… Continue reading

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On the Supreme Court Janus v. AFSCME Decision

  By John Neurohr, Labor, PA Budget and Policy Center, Statements, Stephen Herzenberg

HARRISBURG — Keystone Research Center executive director Stephen Herzenberg and Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center director Marc Stier made the following statement regarding today’s Janus v. AFSCME Supreme Court decision: “In a 5-4 decision that resulted directly from the [evasion of constitutional responsibility and] abuse of power that led to the appointment of Justice Neil Gorsuch, the United States Supreme Court today took another step to rig our economy and our politics against working families and to further diminish the collective rights of working people. By reversing the longstanding precedent set in the 1977 Abood case, the Janus decision makes the entire United States public sector a ‘right to work for less’ country with the stroke of a pen. The decision deprives unions of any financial support from non-members who nonetheless benefit from union representation and collective bargaining to improve wages, benefits, and working conditions. The decision violates a fundamental… Continue reading

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Governor’s 2018-19 Budget Overview

  By Budget analysis, Diana Polson, PA Budget and Policy Center, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Budget, Stephen Herzenberg

With Diana Polson and Stephen Herzenberg In 2018-19, Governor Wolf has presented another austere budget that, within the political limits of Harrisburg, makes progress on issues critical to Pennsylvanians. But because of those political limits- and through no fault of the governor- it does not make fast enough progress. This document presents an overview of the Governor’s proposed 2018-19 budget, and how we believe it continues to move Pennsylvania forward despite difficult circumstances. Continue reading