At Least Our Gov. Wolf and Other Row Officers Are not Trying to LOWER Wages, CUT Health Coverage, and POISON Residents

Posted by Stephen Herzenberg on October 24, 2018 11:23 am
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We at Keystone Research Center and the We the People - Pennsylvania campaign know that a major challenge for Pennsylvania and for the nation is to enact policies that make the economy less rigged against working families.  

Pennsylvania’s Terrible Tax Code Asks More Of You As You Make Less: Hitting Community’s of Color Especially Hard

Posted by Diana Polson on October 23, 2018 5:46 am
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The Commonwealth once again claims its spot in the “Terrible 10” most unfair tax structures in the nation. The lowest 20% of income earners in the state pays more than double (2.3 times) their share of family income on state and local taxes than the top 1%.

Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Will Supercharge Racial Wealth Divide, Finds First-Time Analysis

Posted by Stephen Herzenberg on October 11, 2018 12:43 pm
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Pennsylvanians, even more than other Americans, strongly support fair taxation—because Pennsylvania’s tax system is one of the most unfair in the nation, taxing middle- and low-income families at much higher rates than the richest 1%. Yet when Congress passed huge tax cuts on a party line vote last year, it made the U.S.

Speaker Turzai Offers Up A Fake Redistricting Reform Plan

Posted by Marc Stier on September 21, 2018 3:48 pm
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Speaker Turzai has recently floated a proposal for legislation to delegate the process of drawing congressional district lines to a commission modeled after the process used for drawing legislative districts that is embedded in the PA Constitution. The legislative districting commission consists of one member appointed by the majority and minority caucuses and fifth member appointed by those four. If they cannot agree on a fifth member, according to the PA Constitution, the Supreme Court chooses that person.

2017 Census Release: Health Care Coverage in Pennsylvania

Posted by Diana Polson on September 18, 2018 9:36 pm
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By Shelley Aragoncillo and Diana Polson

The number of Pennsylvania’s uninsured hovers around 5.5% of the state’s population, nearly half of what it was in 2010 before the Affordable Care Act and the expansion of Medicaid.

On Redistricting Reform, Good Intentions Are Not Enough

Posted by Marc Stier on July 15, 2018 3:04 pm
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The first rule of politics, like that of medicine, is do no harm.

And the intention to do no harm is not enough, you need a strategy to ensure that your actions actually avoid doing harm directly or indirectly.

Once again, Fair Districts PA (FDPA) and March on Harrisburg, in two separate ways, are potentially doing harm to our political system in Pennsylvania. 

KRC Files Affidavit in PA School Funding Lawsuit

Posted by Susan Spicka on July 10, 2018 12:43 pm
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Last week petitioners in Pennsylvania's school funding lawsuit filed a brief and affidavits refuting the claim made by the Republican leader of the PA Senate, Joe Scarnati, that the lawsuit was rendered moot because the state adopted a school funding formula in 2016.

The brief details how state funding increases have not kept pace with rising mandated costs, including pension expenses. Because of this, aggregate state funding available to school districts for classroom costs have effectively decreased by $155.3 million since 2013.

The General Assembly Budget Mirrors Many of the Governor’s Priorities But Does Not Go Far Enough

Posted by Diana Polson on June 22, 2018 10:25 pm
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The House and Senate have now passed a $32.7-billion state budget — $281 million less than the governor’s proposed budget, which is expected to be passed on to the Senate next week. The General Assembly budget passed easily and proposed no new tax increases or fees.

The Trump Administration’s Newest About-Face: Seeking to Dismantle Protections for Those with Pre-Existing Conditions

Posted by Diana Polson on June 20, 2018 10:54 am
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In a move in line with Trump’s typical bait-and-switch — purporting to be a defender of the American working class but then doing everything he can to shift power and wealth upwards — he and his Justice Department have decided not to defend the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) protection for those with pre-existing conditions. The pre-existing conditions provision is arguably the most popular piece of the ACA which ensures that insurance companies cannot deny, limit or overcharge anyone who has a pre-existing condition.

Republican Judicial Districting — An Existential Threat to Pennsylvania Democracy

Posted by Marc Stier on June 18, 2018 3:04 pm
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After the uprising of the 17th June
The Secretary of the Writers Union
Had leaflets distributed in the Stalinallee
Stating that the people
Had forfeited the confidence of the government
And could win it back only
By redoubled efforts. Would it not be easier
In that case for the government
To dissolve the people
And elect another?

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