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Here’s how we stop the coming eviction and foreclosure tsunami

  By Housing, Published Op-Eds

Originally published at the PA Capital-Star on August 28, 2020 Pennsylvania is now facing a housing catastrophe as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. On Monday, Gov. Tom Wolf told legislative leaders that he does not have the authority to extend the moratorium on evictions and foreclosure beyond the August 31 deadline. This decision sets the state on the path of a humanitarian and economic disaster. As the governor’s letter to state lawmakers points out, the General Assembly can, and must, take action to prevent that disaster from coming to pass. The COVID-19 pandemic reduced the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 9.5 percent in the second quarter of the year, or 32.9 percent, on an annual basis. The damage in Pennsylvania has been equally severe. The pandemic has left many Pennsylvanians short of the funds needed to pay their rent. But they have not been subject to eviction because… Continue reading

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Why Pennsylvania Needs a State Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)

  By Economic Justice, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania State Taxes, Policy reports

By Diana Polson and Marc Stier Originally published by KRC-PBPC here. If one thing has become clear during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is that workers who do essential things like providing care for the sick, stocking shelves at grocery stores, and cleaning facilities to keep our buildings clean and safe are undervalued in our society. Despite their hard work, many Pennsylvanians earn such low wages that it remains difficult to pay for rent, food, childcare, transportation, and other necessities. We must raise wages and strengthen worker protections for low- and middle-income workers. In addition, there is another easy step Pennsylvania can take to support low-wage workers. That is a state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), which has been effective at reducing poverty in more than half the states across the country.  Continue reading

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Including Immigrants in Pandemic Relief is Essential for America’s Public Health and Economic Recovery

  By Immigration, Maisum Murtaza, PA Budget and Policy Center, PBPC Blog posts

by Maisum Murtaza and Marc Stier Originally published by KRC-PBPC here. The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed numerous ways in which our political community is unfair to many people—and especially those with low incomes and people of color. But perhaps the most disturbing inequity is that immigrants, both documented and undocumented, have been left out of much of the relief efforts so far. Both documented and undocumented immigrants play a critical role in the economy of our state and nation. Immigrants to America are our neighbors, our friends, our employees, and, in some cases, our employers. There are 28.3 million foreign-born residents in the labor force, of which 7.5 million are undocumented immigrants. More than 866,000 immigrants aged 16 or older live in Pennsylvania, of which over 582,000—including 91,000 undocumented immigrants—are part of our workforce. Almost 9% of Pennsylvania’s workforce was born abroad, and 1.4% of the workforce is here without documentation. Immigrants… Continue reading

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How Trump and the Republicans Could Steal the Election

  By 2020, Elections, Fascism, Politics

I’ve been warning about Trump and the path to soft fascism–a fascism that keeps but eviscerates the substance of democratic forms–since 2015.What the federal government is doing in Portland is just the latest step in that direction. Federal police action against the will of the local authorities is against the law. So is unidentified federal agents picking people up in unmarked vehicles. I’ve feared that this is leading to an attempt by Trump to steal the presidential election which he is likely to lose if it is carried out fairly.The Republicans have long been trying to tilt national elections in their direct with voter ID laws, purges of the electorate, gerrymandered congressional districts (which as we will see below could have profound consequences), the end of federal pre-clearance of rules changes, the tacit if not explicit alliance with Russia and the obstruction of justice to covert up which continues with… Continue reading

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Don’t undermine judicial independence in haste

  By Judicial Gerrymandering, Published Op-Eds

Originally published in the Pittsburgh Trib Live on July 14, 2020 The most important decision any political leader can make is about the constitutional structure of our government. Those decisions are best made calmly, deliberately and with a focus on the long-term good of our political community. Poor ones are most likely to be made in a rush, in anger and in response to short-term difficulties. Unfortunately, a Republican proposal to change how we elect justices of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and judges of the commonwealth and Superior courts is going before the Senate this week in anger and resentment at recent Supreme Court rulings. Republicans are upset that the Supreme Court rebuffed its attempt to deny Gov. Tom Wolf an opportunity to veto their concurrent resolution ending the covid-19 state of emergency, even though the Pennsylvania Constitution plainly requires it. A critical feature of the Constitution of the United States —… Continue reading

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Pa. Senate GOP’s judicial gerrymandering plan is a threat to our democracy

  By Judicial Gerrymandering, PA Budget and Policy Center, PBPC Blog posts

Originally appeared in the Pennsylvania Capital-Star on July 14, 2020 Democracy is threatened from many sides. The dangers include voter ID laws; closures of polling places; gerrymandered legislative districts; and problematic voting rules, especially with regard to vote by mail—not to mention attempts by both the executive branch in Washington and the legislative branch in Harrisburg to overstep their bounds. Time and again, the independence of our court has protected our political rights and our civil rights and liberties. Now, however, legislators in Harrisburg are taking a more indirect approach to weaken the independence of our courts. Senate Republicans appear determined to advance an amendment to the Pennsylvania Constitution next week that would change how we elect judges to our state’s highest courts—the Supreme Court, Commonwealth Court, and Superior Court. Instead of electing all judges statewide as we do now, they propose that we elect judges in regional election districts created by the… Continue reading

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White Supremacy and Economic Policy

  By Uncategorized

IN BRIEF White supremacy and slavery were created by political and economic elites to divide working people and limit their power; White supremacy has continued to do that throughout American history. Slavery and racial discrimination against people of color is so contrary to America’s unrealized ideals that it has to be justified by racist depictions of Black people that have then been used to describe all people with low incomes. Structural racism has created enormous barriers to Black economic progress and largely accounts for the substantial differences in income and wealth between Black and white people. White supremacy also harms white people with low and moderate incomes by undermining efforts to raise wages and create an inclusive and well-funded safety net for all. INTRODUCTION This policy brief, unlike the others in the We The People series, is not focused on a particular public policy but on the critical background issue… Continue reading

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The Irony of Trumpism

  By Uncategorized

The election of Trump was in large part a rear guard action of old white men (and the wives who think their fate is wrapped up in white supremacy and patriarchy) against an American that has been changing far too slowly for many of us, but far too fast for them–that is changing at all.  Trump’s explicit racism and sexism appeared because the we were slowly undermining racist and sexist practices and the usual mechanisms by which they were reproduced from generation to generation. Those practices were reproduced even as explicit racist and sexist speech was becoming less common in polite company. The power of structural racism and patriarchy makes it possible for them to continue even when people don’t explicitly embrace them. But it becomes necessary to advance to advance racism and sexism explicitly when you are afraid that they are being threatened. Trump’s explicit embrace of racism and… Continue reading

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Statement on PA Supreme Court Decision in Wolf v. Scarnati

  By Constitutional Law and Civil Liberties, COVID-19, PA Constitutional Law, Pennsylvania

Originally published by KRC-PBPC here. All Pennsylvanians should be gratified by PA Supreme Court’s ruling today that the General Assembly’s attempt to unilaterally end Governor Wolf’s emergency orders is unconstitutional. The Court made its decision, as it should have, on the basis of the plain words of the Constitution which states that a concurrent resolution by the two houses of the General Assembly must be presented to the Governor for his approval or veto. But, as we pointed out in our amicus curiae brief to the Court, and as recent evidence in many other states shows, the consequences of ending the governor’s orders prematurely would have been devastating to the health and economic well-being of us all. Continue reading

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The Republicans have been dead wrong about reopening

  By COVID-19, PA Budget and Policy Center, Public Policy, Published Op-Eds

Originally published by the PA Capital-Star on June 30, 2020. For months Republican leaders in Harrisburg have been demanding an early reopening of businesses in the state and have criticized the demand to wear face masks in public. And recently all Republicans and a few Democrats voted to overturn Governor Wolf’s emergency order.  Extremists like Representative Russ Diamond and Senator Doug Mastriano have been claiming, with no justification at all, that those orders conflict with our rights as Americans. The evidence is now in. The policies Republicans, along with a few Democrats, have supported were wrong. Governor Wolf’s actions have saved thousands of lives. It’s rare that we can do experiments in political and social science to test our ideas. And because we can’t do that—and because people rarely question policies that accord with their self-interest—we have debates that are more about ideology assertion than a rational discussion and weighing… Continue reading