Op-Ed: A State Earned Income Tax Credit Should Be Part of a Budget Deal in 2024
Originally published at Pennsylvania Policy Center on July 9, 2024. The Pennsylvania state budget for fiscal year 2024–25 is now officially overdue, so we’re still left wondering: What might a deal look like? There are two critical components that need to be addressed. The first is enactment of year one of the Basic Education Funding Commission’s plan to adequately and equitably fund education. Enacting this plan is a moral and constitutional requirement. Failing to meet it would leave the General Assembly to answer to both the voters and the courts. Public opinion polls show overwhelming support for meeting this goal. And while courts are generally reluctant to tell legislators how exactly to spend money, for three reasons this barrier is lower in Pennsylvania right now than in other times and places. Neither Democrats nor Republicans sought to appeal Judge Jubelirer’s ruling that our current system of K–12 school funding is… Continue reading