Day: June 12, 2025

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All the Reasons Philadelphia Shouldn’t Cut Business Taxes

  By Blog post, My Work, Penn Policy Center

Originally published at Pennsylvania Policy Center on June 12, 2025. June 12, 2025 By Marc Stier The 2025 Tax Reform Commission (TRC) recently called on the City to eliminate the net income portion of the Business Income and Receipts Tax (BIRT) and to make small cuts to the wage tax. Last week, Mayor Parker endorsed small reductions along these lines.   Following the TRC recommendations, however, would take Philadelphia down the wrong path.   Our organization’s analysis of Philadelphia’s economy and tax structure shows that the TRC report is a flawed anachronism. It repeats the arguments of the 2003 commission, without considering the changes in our economy in twenty years.   First, if we look at the most accurate data, it’s clear that Philadelphia is creating jobs fast. While the city lost more jobs relative to other cities in the Northeast and Midwest in the last quarter of the 20th century, jobs have… Continue reading

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Connecting Trump’s Dots

  By Blog post

Originally published at Pennsylvania Policy Center on June 12, 2025. June 12, 2025 By Marc Stier Let me connect some dots between what’s happening in Los Angeles and what’s happening in Congress and a few other places.  Some of the protests in LA have been violent. I, like most people on the Left, oppose that violence.  But let’s be real. Before the Guard and other military were called in, the protests were mainly peaceful. We saw mainly a garden-variety kind of violence, of the kind that happens in our country often, such as when the local sports team wins a championship. Since then, violence has been exacerbated by the presence of the Guard and military. There was no need to call out the National Guard—and if there had been, Governor Newsom would have done so. Trump has been lying through his teeth about what is going on in LA to justify… Continue reading

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A Response to the Philadelphia Inquirer About Business Taxes

  By Blog post, LTE, Penn Policy Center

Originally published at Pennsylvania Policy Center on June 12, 2025. June 12, 2025 By Marc Stier The Inquirer’s editorial endorsement of cuts to city business and wage taxes repeats three widely held but false ideas.   First, Philadelphia’s taxes do not encourage businesses to locate outside the city. Philadelphia business taxes are not based on location but on activity. Businesses that earn income and receipts in the city pay the BIRT whether they are based inside or outside Philadelphia. And businesses located inside the city do not pay the BIRT on income and receipts they earn outside it.   The one exception is for businesses that sell intangible services such as law or investment firms. The City has already enacted a law to fix this problem. It needs approval by the General Assembly, and diverse interests in Harrisburg are ready to support it.  Second, it is not true that the city is… Continue reading

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The Budget Pennsylvania Needs

  By Blog post

Originally published at Pennsylvania Policy Center on June 12, 2025. June 12, 2025 By Marc Stier We are almost at the middle of June, the time when the political leaders of our state begin to get serious about enacting the budget for the fiscal year that begins on July 1. So, this is a good time to focus on what Pennsylvanians want to see fiscal year 2025–26 look like. We at the Pennsylvania Policy Center and our partners in the Pennsylvanians Together advocacy campaign have three priorities. We believe that the Pennsylvania budget will not be complete without enacting Governor Shapiro’s plan for K–12 education, his plan to support public transit, and an increase to the minimum wage that puts the state on a short path to $15 per hour. K–12 Education Pennsylvania remains under a court order—as well as a moral imperative— to adequately and equitably fund K–12 education.… Continue reading