Federal Shutdown, Waiver Proposals Threaten SNAP, Put Residents at Risk

Posted by Sheila Christopher on January 8, 2019 1:22 pm
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The following is a guest blog post written by Sheila Christopher, Executive Director of Hunger-Free Pennsylvania.

Two recent developments in the federal government could spell disaster for thousands Pennsylvanians who receive monthly food benefits.

New Year's Day Minimum Wage Hikes Raise Pay for Millions of US Workers But Not in PA; New Legislature Must Change That

Posted by Stephen Herzenberg on December 31, 2018 11:10 am
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As of today, this first day of 2019, 20 U.S. states will raise their minimum wages, lifting pay for 5.3 million workers across the country and 614,000 in four of Pennsylvania's neighboring states. The increases in our neighbors include a $0.25 per hour adjustment for inflation in Ohio and New Jersey, a $0.50 per hour increase in Delaware, and a $0.70 to $2.00 per hour increase in New York State—the biggest increase in New York City.

ANALYSIS: One Year Later, the Tax Cut and [Con] Jobs Act

Posted by Diana Polson on December 20, 2018 1:31 pm
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December 17th marked the one-year anniversary of President Trump’s “Tax Cut and Jobs Act.” While we knew the impact of this legislation would mean more money shifting upwards into the hands of the already wealthy and large corporations, we have new data, thanks to the Americans for Tax Fairness, corroborating that reality.

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.

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