For Many Pennsylvanians, Insurance Premiums Increase Are Greater Than Tax Cuts

Posted by Marc Stier on November 24, 2017 5:09 pm
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As we have pointed out previously, because it repeals the individual mandate, the Senate tax cut proposal will not only lead to 13 million fewer people having health insurance in the United States, but it will lead to much higher premiums for many who do purchase health insurance on the individual market. The CBO’s estimate was that premiums nationwide would increase by 10%.

Help for Your Thanksgiving Day Tax Debates

Posted by Marc Stier on November 23, 2017 2:34 pm
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If your family is anything like ours, politics tends to come up around the Thanksgiving Day table and diverse opinions are often put forward, including by one or more of our cranky uncles who mutter about “those people” and the “damn government.” Since your cranky uncles like mine no doubt listens to Rush and his friends, they are going to present you with a lot of misinformation about the GOP federal tax cut bill. 

But have no fear as we have your back.

The Rich Get Richer: Why the Senate Tax Bill is a Total Sham

Posted by John Neurohr on November 22, 2017 4:59 pm
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The Senate Republican tax plan would provide enormous, permanent tax cuts to high-income households and corporations – all while adding at least $1.5 trillion to the deficit. And to pay for its permanent tax cuts for corporations, the bill would raise taxes on many middle-income families and repeal the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate, increasing the number of uninsured Pennsylvanians by 505,000 and raising individual market premiums nationwide by 10 percent.

This is Not Normal

Posted by Marc Stier on November 3, 2017 9:14 pm
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It is hard to look at politics in America without being afraid for our future. Everywhere we look, we see extremist movements that reject common standards of argument and evidence that are willing to say anything to advance their cause and that will not compromise even at the cost of creating a public disaster. 

On HB/SB 76 — Property Tax Elimination in PA

Posted by Marc Stier on November 3, 2017 3:36 pm
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As we point out in our previous post, some people believe that the constitutional amendment on the ballot in November would make it easier to enact some version of the property tax elimination proposal, HB /SB 76. We are not sure that this is true. But if it were true, we would certainly oppose the constitutional amendment because HB / SB 76 is possibly the worst policy proposal we’ve ever encountered. 

On Joint Resolution 1, the Constitutional Amendment on Property Taxes

Posted by Marc Stier on November 3, 2017 3:10 pm
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We are getting a lot of questions about what the constitutional amendment on the ballot this year means and where the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center stands on it.

We haven’t rushed to judgment on it for a couple of reasons. First, we are not convinced that this amendment will, by itself, have much impact on policy in the state. And second, given that any amendment to the Constitution is important, we wanted to make sure we understood all the implications of it before reaching a conclusion.

In Truth, The PA Budget Is Still Not Done

Posted by Marc Stier on October 27, 2017 8:49 pm
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A quick take

If the governor signs the tax and fiscal code bills passed this week, or allows them to become law, a funding plan for the Pennsylvania Budget for 2017-2018 that technically allows for a balanced budget will be complete. But the work of the General Assembly is not finished because this funding plan not only fails to address the long-term budget problems faced by the state, it deepens those problems. The result will be that the fiscal year beginning in July 2018 will be in deficit and that, unless the state changes direction, those deficits will no doubt increase in subsequent years. (Click the title for more)

For PA and U.S. Manufacturing to Flourish, Policymakers Need to Be Beholden to Some Different Defunct Economists

Posted by Stephen Herzenberg on October 20, 2017 4:25 pm
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This past Tuesday, Keystone Research Center co-sponsored “Manufacturing a Better Paying Pennsylvania” with the D.C.-based Century Foundation, the Steel Valley Authority, and others. The event laid out the case for the U.S. and Pennsylvania to implement comprehensive strategies for growing high-wage manufacturing. This Pittsburgh Post-Gazette op ed lays out the basic argument.

STATEMENT: On Shale Tax and Cancelled House Session

Posted by Marc Stier on October 19, 2017 4:00 pm
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Marc Stier, Director of the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center, released the following statement on the decision by the House to cancel session days on October 23, 24, and 25:

"We at the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center generally don't comment on when the House chooses to be in session. But the decision by Speaker Mike Turzai and Majority Leader Dave Reed to cancel voting sessions next week—on October 23, 24, and 25—and to do so the day after the House Finance Committee approved a shale tax bill on a bi-partisan basis reeks of both chicanery and desperation.

Natural Gas Producers in PA Don't Pay Their Fair Share

Posted by Stephen Herzenberg on October 18, 2017 1:30 pm
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In recent months -- and weeks -- Pennsylvania’s legislature has shown renewed interest in enacting a severance tax on natural gas extraction as part of the state’s overdue revenue package to fund the state budget. In response, the natural gas industry has maintained a steady drumbeat of communications claiming that Pennsylvania already has a tax on gas extraction because of its per well impact fee which does not rise with the volume or value of gas drilled.

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