General Policy

A New Proposal Would Give a Much-Needed Boost to Pennsylvania’s Working Families

Posted by Jeff Garis on April 10, 2019 12:42 pm
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Senator Bob Casey today joined Senators Sherrod Brown, Michael Bennet, Dick Durbin, and Ron Wyden to introduce the Working Families Tax Relief Act (WFTRA), legislation that would begin to fix our tax laws to help working people with low-wage jobs make ends meet as they work to support themselves and their families. The proposal would strengthen the highly successful Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for working families with children and working people without children at home, ensure that millions of poor children aren’t left out of the Child Tax Credit (CTC), and boost the CTC for families with very young children. A summary of key provisions of the WFTRA is included below.

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

Posted by Sheila Christopher on January 8, 2019 2:22 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.

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 12:23 pm
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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.  

Complicated work requirements will upend SNAP as a stabilizing force for those in crisis

Posted by Diana Polson on May 14, 2018 9:55 am
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Over the last couple months, we at the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center have been holding community conversations to hear from individuals across the state about the challenges they are facing and to understand what they would like to see done differently in Harrisburg. One young man we spoke to in recent weeks, Colten, told us his story. Colten has been homeless off and on over the last three years since his grandma committed suicide. He has been in and out of low wage retail jobs and struggles to secure affordable housing.

Let’s be honest about food stamp work requirements…

Posted by Guest Blogger on April 18, 2018 2:45 pm
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The following is a guest blog post from Sheila Christopher, Executive Director of Hunger-Free Pennsylvania. The post originally appeared on their blog here.

The House Health Committee recently approved a measure (H.B. 1659) that would impose mandatory work requirements for all able-bodied food stamp recipients. The legislation is now being fast-tracked for consideration before the full House.

Mandatory work requirements sound reasonable … until you know the facts.

One in seven Pennsylvanians currently use the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or food stamps, to help buy the food they need to survive and feed their families. SNAP helps keep food on the table for thousands of low-wage and part-time workers who can’t find steady employment, veterans, people who are homeless, and people struggling with addictions, in addition to children, seniors, and people with disabilities.

SNAP Works for Pennsylvania Children

Posted by John Neurohr on October 3, 2016 10:12 am
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The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) helps PA families put food on the table. But we know now that it accomplishes much more than that.

Research increasingly shows that SNAP, formerly known as Food Stamps, can ward against the long-term effects on children of experiencing poverty, abuse or neglect, parental substance abuse or mental illness, and exposure to violence—events that can take a toll on their well-being as adults.  As a new Center on Budget and Policy Priorities report finds, SNAP helps form a strong foundation of health and well-being for low-income children by lifting millions of families out of poverty, improving food security, and helping improve health and academic achievement with long-lasting consequences. 

It’s doing all that across Pennsylvania. SNAP is improving our children’s futures.

KRC/PBPC Insider News for the Week Ending January 8, 2016

Posted by Jan Jarrett on January 8, 2016 5:27 pm
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Goodbye and good riddance 2015… A bruising and historic budget fight ended in an unsatisfactory stalemate with the governor’s signing and blue-lining of an inadequate budget passed by the General Assembly after the House and Senate walked away from a negotiated compromise. Education funding remains far from resolved, but school districts did receive enough funding to keep the doors open in the new year.

Newt to Blame for the Obamacare Website (?) and the Closing of the Office of Technology Assessment

Posted by Stephen Herzenberg on December 6, 2013 2:33 pm
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One of my standard phrases since I came to Pennsylvania in December 1995 to launch Keystone Research Center is that "Newt Gingrich eliminated my old job and created my new job."

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