Category: Budget

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PBPC Supports Senator Vincent Hughes’s K-12 Funding Plan

  By Budget, K-12 Education in PA, PA Budget and Policy Center, Pennsylvania Budget, Statements

Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center joined a press conference on Thursday in support of Senator Vincent Hughes’s plan to invest $3.1 billion in K-12 education. The plan would add over $2 billion in K-12 funding from general operating funds, including  $750 million in basic education funding; $400 milllion for additional for the Level Up program, which provides additional funds to the 100 least-well-funded school districts; $250 million for special education; $275 million to reimburse school districts for the cost of charter schools; $150 million for early childhood education; $125 million for academic support programs; $100 million for mental health supports; and $100 million to recruit more teachers. Sneator Hughes also proposed spending $1 billion from Rainy Day Funds for remediation of toxic schools. Senator Hughes was joined at the press conference by Senators Sharif Street, Tim Kearney, Jimmy Dillon, and Nick Miller and Represenative Elizabeth Fiedler. PBPC Director Marc Stier’s… Continue reading

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PBPC on the PA Budget: This Is NOT a Budget for the People

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

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 7, 2022 Contact: Kirstin Snow, snow@pennbpc.org To: Members of the PA General Assembly, State Legislative Staff, Political reporters, Editorial Board Writers, and Columnists From: Marc Stier, Director, PA Budget and Policy Center Statement on Proposed Budget: PA Budget & Policy Center – This is NOT a budget for the people The new Pennsylvania Budget is a deep disappointment for Pennsylvania. At a time when the state is flush with cash, the Republican-led General Assembly has failed to meet the immediate needs of the vast majority of Pennsylvanians or invest enough in our future. Yet the budget does include an unnecessary and costly long-term cut in corporate taxes causing a one-year loss of $250 million in revenue in the current fiscal year will grow, to $2.25 billion per year at the end of eight years. Yet the state will still not ask wealthy, multinational corporations to pay… Continue reading

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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

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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

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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

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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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Pennsylvania’s Financial Outlook Just Got Better Again—It’s Time to Help Pennsylvania Families

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

Pennsylvania’s 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 Revenue’s 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