Category: Economic Development
STATEMENT: House Dems Pass Inflation Reduction Act To Lower Drug Prices, Make Health Care & Energy Costs More Affordable

For Immediate Release Date: August 12, 2022 Contact: Kirstin Snow, snow@pennbpc.org House Democrats Pass Inflation Reduction Act To Lower Drug Prices, Make Health Care and Energy Costs More Affordable Historic Bill to Curb Big Pharma and Make Corporations Pay What They Owe Moves Towards Passage Harrisburg, PA ā Following U.S. House passage of the Inflation Reduction Actāa bill that will enact historic drug pricing reform, reduce health insurance costs, lower energy costs, and reduce the national deficitāMarc Stier, director of the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center and Stephen Herzenberg, executive director of the Keystone Research Center, released the following statement: āÆāÆ The U.S. Houseās vote to pass the Inflation Reduction Act makes historic progress on many fronts. It takes a huge step forward in addressing the threat of climate change by investing $370 billion in a series of incentives to encourage the replacement of fossil fuels with clean,⦠Continue reading
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 ā A Major Step Forward for the US and the World

with Stephen Herzenberg We are happy to see that a deal has been reached to address growing inflation by reducing prescription health care costs, taxing corporations and the ultra-rich, and combatting climate change and reducing energy costs. We call on the United States Senate and House of Representatives to take immediate action to pass this legislation and send it to President Bidenās desk. This legislation, along with the Infrastructure law and the American Rescue Plan, again shows that Democrats are committed to meeting the needs of everyone in the country, no matter where we live or what we look like or whether we are rich and poor, by using the power of the government. Only by acting together can we ensure that we have the roads and bridges and public transit critical to our economy, affordable health care, and clean energy. And only by acting together can we give our⦠Continue reading
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 – A Major Step Forward for the US and the World

With Stephen Herzenberg We are happy to see that a deal has been reached to address growing inflation by reducing prescription health care costs, taxing corporations and the ultra-rich, and combatting climate change and reducing energy costs. We call on the United States Senate and House of Representatives to take immediate action to pass this legislation and send it to President Bidenās desk. This legislation, along with the Infrastructure law and the American Rescue Plan, again shows that Democrats are committed to meeting the needs of everyone in the country, no matter where we live or what we look like or whether we are rich and poor, by using the power of the government. Only by acting together can we ensure that we have the roads and bridges and public transit critical to our economy, affordable health care, and clean energy. And only by acting together can we give our⦠Continue reading
Use ARP Funds to Help With High Gas Prices

Pennsylvaniaās families and economy are currently dealing with rising prices that are the result of the supply chain issues created by an unexpectedly quick economic recovery and the rise in gas prices created by Russiaās war on Ukraine. As we have shown, the state will have an accumulated surplus of $10.2 billion at the end of the current fiscal year. Itās time to use that money to deal with the current difficulties Pennsylvanians are facingāincluding the rise in gas pricesāwhich in turn threaten to slow our economic recovery. Republicans in Harrisburg have recently called for cutting Pennsylvaniaās gas tax to soften the blow of higher gas prices. But a temporary cut in the gas tax is the wrong policy for four reasons. First, when gas taxes go down, wealthy oil companies don’t reduce prices at the pump at the same rate, if at all. Instead, oil companies take their time⦠Continue reading
Pennsylvaniaās Financial Outlook Just Got Better AgaināItās Time to Help Pennsylvania Families
Pennsylvaniaās financial outlook for 2022/23 just got better. In March 2022, state revenues came in higher than expected as they have in nearly every month this fiscal year. Several months ago, we calculated that the state would have an estimated surplus of $10.7 billion at the end of 2021/22. Our revised estimate, after the Pennsylvania Department of Revenueās March report, is that Pennsylvania will have a surplus of between $11.2 billion and $12 billion by the end of June 2022. Fiscal year collections to date for 2021-22 total $2.7 billion, or 8.5% above estimates. If in the last quarter of this fiscal year, revenues come in according to the estimates of last June, the state budget surplus will be $2.7 billion greater than projected at the start of the fiscal year. If, however, revenues continue to come in at the rate of 8.5% above projections (and April is a big⦠Continue reading
Build Back Better: A Transformative Plan for 21st-Century America
President Bidenās Build Back Better framework is an unprecedented and transformative plan to better the lives of all AmericansāBlack, brown, and white; those with low, moderate, or high incomes; the youngest children and the oldest seniors. It will help families care for children while making quality pre-K available to all 3- and 4-year-olds. It will create hundreds of thousands of good jobs, many in unionized trades and clean manufacturing while drastically cutting greenhouse gases and reducing energy costs for every household. It will reduce the cost of health care and housing for millions. And it will make college education more affordable, boosting the future prospects of our young people and our economy as a whole. It will be paid for by new taxes on the largest, most profitable corporations and the wealthiest Americans while cutting taxes for working peopleāall while reducing the deficit. The legislative process in America is always⦠Continue reading
This Is How (and How Many) Pennsylvanians Are Helped by the Build Back Better Plan

Updated November 18, 2021. President Bidenās Build Back Better plan is an unprecedented and transformative plan to better the lives of all AmericansāBlack, brown, and white; those with low, moderate, or high incomes; the youngest children and the oldest seniors. We have given an overview of the whole programābut here we want to focus on the many ways Pennsylvanians will be touched by the Build Back Better plan. These preliminary estimates of the numbers of Pennsylvanians who will benefit from Build Back Better are from official government sources. Soon, we will be updating them with additional and more detailed estimates from policy analysts outside government. How the Build Back Better plan helps Pennsylvaniaās children and families Provides access to affordable child care. Child care is a huge burden for families in our state. The annual average cost of sending a young child to a child care center in Pennsylvania is⦠Continue reading
Small Businesses and Workers Need Help From the StateāAnd Each Other

Thanks to the American Rescue Plan enacted by President Biden, we’re seeing the economy recover faster than people suspected was possible when we were in the depths of the pandemic recession nine months ago. But that recovery doesnāt include everyone. Small businesses and many working people are still hurting. They need Pennsylvaniaās government to help them by using the 7.5 million dollars of our tax money the General Assembly refused to spend in June. Fifteen months after the beginning of the pandemic, small business revenue in Pennsylvania is still down 28% relative to pre-COVID levels. It has continued to decline in the last two months. As of June 21st, the number of small businesses open in Pennsylvania was below that at the start of 2020 by about 37%. The last two months have seen a decline of roughly 10 percentage points. Many workers remain in trouble, too.Ā As of May 2021,⦠Continue reading
Small Businesses and Workers Still Need Help

By Maisum Murtaza, Claire Kovach, Stephen Herzenberg and Marc Stier state budget enacted in late June has two glaring and interrelated missing pieces: it provides little support for the small businesses and for the working people of Pennsylvania who are still suffering from the impact of the pandemic. Small businesses are still hurting. Fifteen months after the beginning of the pandemic, small business revenue in Pennsylvania is still down 28% relative to pre-COVID levels. It has continued to decline in the last two months. As of June 21st, the number of open small businesses in Pennsylvania was down compared to the start of 2020 by about 37%. The last two months have seen a decline of roughly 10 percentage points. Workers are still hurting, too. As of May 2021, Pennsylvania is still more than 400,000 jobs short of the level in February 2020 The unemployment rate has remained around 7%⦠Continue reading