Day: October 4, 2017

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STATEMENT: On the Governor’s Plan to Securitize PLCB Profits

  By Pennsylvania Budget

Marc Stier, director of the PA Budget and Policy Center, made the following statement after the release of the governor’s plan to securitize PLCB profits. “As he recognizes, Governor Wolf’s plan to borrow $1.2 billion on the basis of Liquor Control Board profitsis not an ideal or complete solution to the state budget crisis. It is a step made necessary by a General Assembly unwilling to meet its responsibility to pass a budget. “As we have pointed out before, it is not ideal for the state to borrow to pay for operating expenses. And this plan does not provide all the funds the state needs this year or in the future. “The plan will not provide funding to enable the state to continue to support Penn State, the University of Pittsburgh, Temple University, or Lincoln University or for the University of Pennsylvania’s Veterinary School or for Penn State’s agricultural extension… Continue reading

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GOP-Trump Tax Plan: A Windfall for Top 1% of Pennsylvania, a Tax Increase for Many Middle-Class Pennsylvanians

  By Federal Taxes, Pennsylvania, Taxation, Uncategorized

  A 50-state analysis of the GOP tax framework reveals that in Pennsylvania, the top 1 percent of taxpayers would receive a substantial tax cut worth $67,970 while many upper-middle-class Pennsylvanians would face a tax increase. This plan is bad for Pennsylvania and our country. At a time when incomes are rising for the very rich and relatively stagnant for everyone else, a plan that lavishes tax breaks on the top 1 percent, and pays for it in part by taxing others, should not be the starting point of our tax reform debate. The Washington-based Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy released the 50-state numbers today. While GOP leaders have pitched the plan as a tax cut for the middle class, the analysis shows that this is not true for the nation as a whole or for Pennsylvania. While most Pennsylvanians would receive a modest tax cut, on average that cut… Continue reading