Category: Budget

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PBPC Research Prompts Senators to Introduce Tax Fairness Legislation

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

Originally appeared on the Third and State blog, on May 11, 2016. Something new and unusual happened in Harrisburg today. Senators Art Haywood, Vincent Hughes and Jay Costa put forward an idea that actually could help resolve the pressing fiscal cliff we face this year, and at the same time could make our tax system more progressive. Despite partisan differences, three goals are more or less shared by everyone in Harrisburg. While their top priority may differ, for the most part, legislators all say they want: 1. to close the $1.8 billion structural deficit; 2. to spend more on education; 3. and to put no additional tax burden on low- and middle-income taxpayers. Yet no one has presented a plan to accomplish this feat. In an election year, legislators will say that they are not willing to raise the income tax or sales tax – which could generate the necessary… Continue reading

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#Namethecuts

  By PA Budget and Policy Center, PBPC Blog posts, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Budget

Originally published at Third and State, April 4, 2016 It appears that some elements in the Republican Party of Pennsylvania have one and only one goal – to not raise taxes. It doesn’t matter if spending in our classrooms, and especially in the classrooms in our lowest income communities, have not recovered from the Corbett cuts of 2011-12; they won’t raise taxes. It doesn’t matter if waiting lists for mental health and intellectual disability services grow; they won’t raise taxes. It doesn’t matter if tuition keeps rising for our colleges and universities. It doesn’t matter if the budget is “balanced” with smoke and mirrors; they won’t raise taxes. It doesn’t matter if the ratings agencies can see through the smoke and mirrors and plan to downgrade our credit again; they won’t raise taxes. And now that all the special funds have been raided, all the bills have been put off… Continue reading

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An Explanation of our Infographic, “Especially for Poor Districts, Drastic Corbett Education Cuts Remain”

  By K-12 Education in PA, PA Budget and Policy Center, PBPC Blog posts, Pennsylvania Budget

Originally published at Third and State March 31 So what difference does a budget actually make? Why should we care that we wound up with the Republican budget for this year (HB 1801), rather than the bi-partisan budget agreed to in December 2015 (SB 1073), let alone the budget Governor Wolf proposed in March 2015? The difference for the education of our kids is found in this first figure above. The $846 million cut from classrooms in 2011-2012 has never fully been restored. And because more funding was cut and less funding restored in the districts that have a higher poverty than a lower poverty rate, state spending per student in those districts remains substantially behind what it was in 2010-11. We call the difference between what was spent per student in 2010-11 and what is spent today the “funding gap.” The bi-partisan budget – the one agreed to by Governor… Continue reading

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Winners and Losers

  By PA Budget and Policy Center, PBPC Blog posts, Pennsylvania Budget

Governor Wolf decided yesterday to allow the latest Republican budget to become law. We were hoping he would veto it. But we understand why, given the intransigence of the extremists in the PA General Assembly, he decided to bring this round to a close, keep schools open this year, and continue the fight for fair and equitable funding for education and human services to enact next year’s budget. We will join him in that and subsequent rounds. But as this one closes, we should be honest about what we lost and congratulate those who won. So, if you believe that natural gas drillers should not pay another cent to the government, even if that means we never restore the Corbett cuts to education funding and human services, congratulations — you won yesterday. If you don’t care that schools in rich districts in Pennsylvania spend 33% more per child than schools… Continue reading

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No One Wants Leviathan

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

Republicans claims that government has been getting larger and larger in Pennsylvania and that Democrats want it to grow bigger still. They are wrong on both counts. Government in Pennsylvania is smaller than it has been in decades. And Democrats only seek to restore it to the size it averaged over the last 20 years. Continue reading

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Wolf, Legislators, and School Advocates Must Stand Together for PA Education

  By Education, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Budget

Originally published at Newworks, March 16, 2016 We are heading into a critical time in the seemingly endless Pennsylvania budget crisis. This is the moment when Pennsylvanians must stand strong for a budget that is not only done but done right. And that means a budget that finally, after years of deep cuts and shallow restorations, begins to fund education at levels that meet the needs of our children. Many of us want to attain that aim. But to know how to get there, we have to understand the forces, inside and outside the Capitol Building, that oppose us. They would rather see devastating cuts to education rather than increase taxes. Education advocates vs. extremist forces Some of those who take this view believe, falsely, that much education spending is useless and wasteful. They don’t grasp, as most Pennsylvanians do, that the money we spend on education is vital not only… Continue reading

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How Low Will They Go?

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

Originally published Third and State Blog, March 4, 2016 The majority of Pennsylvanians believe that every child in Pennsylvania deserves a high quality education. We believe that the best education for everyone is central to creating economic opportunity for individuals. And we believe that economic growth is only possible with a highly educated work force. And we know both of these aims can only be attained if we provide adequate and equitable funding to each of our schools. So when legislators or advocates on the right challenge the demand for adequate and equatibale funding we sometimes find it hard to understand what they want. How little funding are they prepared to give students in poor communities Pennsylvania before they will say it’s too low? How low will they go? A recent op-ed by the Commonwealth Foundation gives us the beginning of an answer. And it’s extremely disturbing. To judge by… Continue reading

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Senator Corman’s Budget Fantasy

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

The Independent Fiscal Office’s projection that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania faces a $1.8 billion structural deficit for the fiscal year beginning July 1 is now beyond dispute. And we at the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center (PBPC) believe that there are only two ways forward. One path leads to a relatively small tax increase that closes the deficit and restore funding for education and human services. The other path leads to devastating cuts in education and human services. In response to that stark choice, Senator Corman has decided to change the subject by focusing on pension costs in his column in Pennlive. Senator Corman must know this is a complete fantasy. PBPC has analyzed various pension “reform” proposals over the years and we’ve shown not only do they barely reduce expenditure in the short term, they also don’t save much money in the long term. We’ve also demonstrated that pension… Continue reading

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Pennsylvania at the Crossroads

  By PA Budget and Policy Center, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Budget

Originally published at Third and State, February 9, 2016 Pennsylvania is at a crossroads. We face a stark and profound choice between two different paths. The first path would build on the broad consensus about public policy that animated our politics for generations. That consensus, forged by both Democrats and Republicans, recognizes that without good public education, our kids won’t succeed and our economy will stall.  It accepts responsibility for taking care of the disabled, ill and aged who, through no fault of their own, need our help. It seeks no more, but also no less, taxation and government necessary to attain these critical goods. And it places the tax burden on those who can afford it most, corporations and the wealthy. The other path, which abandons common sense and is contrary to the experience of most Pennsylvanians, tell us that government never works. It falsely proclaims that our schools… Continue reading