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Upcoming Actions to Stop Threats to Democracy, Medicaid, SNAP, and Fair Taxation

By Blog Post

Here are some upcoming actions opposing the Trump administration’s threat to democracy, Medicaid, SNAP and fair taxation that Penn Policy and Pennsylvanians Together are organizing or contributing to.

Presidents’ Day, Monday, February 17. The People Demand Change rally, march

Thursday, February 20, 6 p.m., Levittown, PA. Pennsylvanians Together Community Conversation: Healthcare, Federal Tax Changes, and Impacts on Working Families. Find more information, and sign up here!

Wednesday, March 26, 10:30 a.m.–4 p.m. 2025 People’s Budget Summit & Day of Action

Join us for our 2025 People’s Budget Summit & Day of Action! This event will include workshops, a press conference, lobby training, and a post-event happy hour nearby. More details and a registration link to come. RSVP to stay up to date!

The Other Shoe Drops: Deep Cuts Coming for Medicaid and SNAP to Pay for Tax Giveaways to the Ultra-Rich

By Blog Post

I’m sure many of you have been following the news over the last few weeks from Washington, DC, with anguish, worry, and despair. We have seen President Trump and his factotum, Elon Musk (or is it the other way around?), engage in a series of illegal and unconstitutional acts. We have seen a cut-off of foreign aid that is already leading to deaths abroad. And we have seen an attack on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs that aim to roll back the all-too-little progress we have made in reducing the barriers that stand in the way of women and Black people.

As I wrote last week in a short blog post, Connecting the Dots, as bad as these actions are, they don’t stand alone. They are meant to push forward the Republican plan to make another round of deep cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, and other important programs to pay for another Trump tax giveaway to the ultra-rich and wealthy corporations. We have been warning about this plan for a few months now.

On Thursday,  the other shoe dropped.

The chairs of the House and Senate Budget Committees released drafts of budget resolutions bills that pave the way for the tax cuts and Medicaid and SNAP cuts we have feared.

Just to remind you, a budget resolution doesn’t do anything itself. It is a plan for changes in policy that must be formulated by committees that produce legislation. The plan sets a timeline for them to act. Then their legislation is packaged into a reconciliation bill that enacts the plan all at once. And what is special about both a budget resolution and a reconciliation bill is that neither are subject to the Senate filibuster.

The two bills are different—the House bill is far bigger. The lowlights are

  • directing the House Ways and Means Committee to make $4.5 trillion in tax cuts over 9 years.
    • The budget resolution specifically calls for the extension of the individual tax cuts enacted in 2017.
    • We are not quite sure if the extension is for 8, 9, or 10 years, but we suspect it is 9. All proposals that will be implemented are over the same period of time.
  • increasing the debt limit by $4 trillion.
  • implementing $1.5 trillion in cuts to food, health care, housing, education, etc. Different committees were given the responsibility of coming up with the cuts in the following amounts:
    • Energy and Commerce Committee (Medicaid and Health) $880 billion
    • Agriculture (SNAP) $230 billion
    • Education $330 billion
  • ending the ACA premium tax credits, which make coverage more affordable for about half the people on the health care exchanges.
  • adding $90 billion in funding for the Department of Homeland Security for deportation.
  • adding $110 billion funding for the Department of Justice for the detention and prosecution of immigrants.

The Senate budget resolution is the first of two, and it is even vaguer than the House bill.

It

  • includes a $342 billion in new spending; the two biggest parts are assigned to:
    • Homeland Security Committee, $175 billion.
    • Armed Services Committee, $150 billion.
  • directs four committees to make cuts totaling at least $1 billion with few details about the cuts should be distributed among the following four committees.
    • Health, Education, Labor, and Pension
    • Agriculture
    • Education
    • Energy and Resources
  • instructs the Senate Finance Committee to extend the 2017 individual tax cuts, which would cost over $4 trillion.

But little public information is available. While neither bill provides details about either the tax or spending cuts, our understanding is that the individual committees in both the House and Senate are already meeting to plan them.

The timeline for the budget process has accelerated. This is what they plan.

  • February 12 — Senate Budget Committee markup of the first of two budget resolutions
  • February 13 — House Budget Committee markup of one budget resolution to set up a comprehensive budget reconciliation bill with budget cuts and tax cuts
  • February 17, week of — recess week for House
  • February 18–21 — full Senate takes up/passes the budget resolution
  • Feb 24, week of — House takes up a full budget resolution
  • March, sometime —House committees mark up their parts of the reconciliation bill
  • March 3, week of — Senate committees mark up their parts of reconciliation bill with budget cuts
  • March 17, week of — both House/Senate out for recess
  • April, sometime —House passes reconciliation bill followed by Senate passage

There are likely to be some delays in this process, especially on the House side. It appears that the Senate Republican leadership has a commitment from a majority of senators to vote for the plan. But the House Republican leadership does not have a similar commitment. Republicans have a very narrow majority and multiple factions that oppose one another on some matters.

Given those divisions, there is still a chance to influence what the House does. We understand that, in large part, because of events we have done and contacts you have made, some Republican members of the House in Pennsylvania have some qualms about the deep Medicaid cuts.

So now is the time for all of us to keep doing what we can to stop or modify the budget resolutions.

1. The first thing we ask you to do is send your member of the House and PA’s two senators an email letter using our online tool.

2. Next, please call your members of Congress. Your message can be very simple. Tell them your name, your zip code, and that you oppose extending the 2017 Trump tax cuts and any cuts to Medicaid and SNAP.

  • Call Senator McCormick at 202-224-6324.
  • Call Senator Fetterman at 202-224-4254.
  • You can find House members here.

3. Join protests, make legislative visits, and do other actions in your communities. You can find a list of upcoming actions here.

4. Do you want to do set up something yourself or with friends to influence members of Congress? Whether you want to visit your members of Congress or hold an educational event, a rally or a house party, we can help you organize it and recruit people to attend. Someone on our staff may be able to come out and make a presentation as well. Contact our campaign director Dwayne Heisler at Heisler@pennpolicy.org.

 

Policy Pulse — February 2025

By Newsletter

Soon after we finished work on the newsletter you received this morning, the Republicans in Congress took to moving the agenda we have been warning about. So we want to follow up with this update. Please see below!

A NOTE FROM OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR—THE OTHER SHOE DROPS

I’m sure many of you have been following the news in the last few weeks from Washington, DC, with anguish, worry, and despair. We have seen President Trump and his factotum, Elon Musk (or is it the other way around?), engage in a series of illegal and unconstitutional acts. We have seen a cut-off of foreign aid that is already leading to deaths abroad. And we have seen an attack on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs that aim to roll back the all-too-little progress we have made in reducing the barriers that stand in the way of women and Black people.

As I wrote in a short blog post last week, Connecting the Dots, as bad as these actions are, they don’t stand alone. They are meant to push forward the Republican plan to make another round of deep tax cuts that mainly benefit the ultra-rich and wealthy corporations.

And to limit the increase in the budget deficit created mostly by the Trump tax cut scam of 2017, the new tax cut scam will be paid for by deep cuts in Medicaid and SNAP (formerly food stamps.) As we explain in our Federal Fightback fact sheet, these cuts will be deeply damaging to millions of Pennsylvania’s children; adults; and seniors who live in assisted living facilities and nursing homes.

Yesterday, the other shoe dropped. The Republican chairmen of the House and Senate Budget Committee put forward budget resolutions that propose both $4 trillion–$5 trillion in tax cuts and the cuts to Medicaid and SNAP we feared. That’s why we strongly encourage you to TAKE ACTION RIGHT NOW by using our online tool to email your member of the House of Representatives and our two senators to ask them to oppose this budget resolution. More details are below and in the above blog post.

Last Tuesday was PA Budget Day 2025!

Governor Josh Shapiro delivered the annual Budget Address to a joint session of the General Assembly, identifying his priorities for Pennsylvania in 2025-26 and a budget to fund this agenda. We released a statement in response, with PPC executive director Marc Stier calling it “a reasonably progressive budget under the circumstances of constrained resources and deep political uncertainty,” but warning that “a fiscal crisis is coming to our state — not a natural phenomenon, but a choice by governors and legislators in the past and present …” Read the statement to find out what that wrong choice is (and how to fix it in 2025!)

In addition to releasing the statement, Penn Policy hosted a virtual panel discussion shortly after the address, featuring champions in the legislature and allies leading the charge for policies that allow ALL Pennsylvanians survive and thrive! Reps. Josh Siegel (HD 22/Lehigh) and Chris Rabb (HD 200/Phila) joined Priyanka Reyes-Kaura (with Children First) and Kristin Volchansky (with Action Together Northeastern PA) to offer initial reactions to the proposed budget and highlight crucial priorities including education, social services, raising wages, and making free-loading billionaires and greedy corporations pay their fair share. A recording of the discussion and the Q&A can be viewed on PPC’s YouTube channel and Facebook page.

Upcoming Online Events: Get Informed. Get Inspired. Get Involved!

If you missed the opportunity to be part of last week’s live virtual discussion, which included questions submitted by attendees in our Zoom room, there are ample opportunities to join us for informative and interactive online forums throughout 2025!

PA Policy Center’s monthly “Policy Action” series offers a closer look at public policies that impact the lives of Pennsylvanians, featuring leading advocates inviting people to get informed and get active! Our next Policy Action meeting is scheduled for 1PM on Thursday, Feb. 20, when we’ll be taking a deeper dive into the proposed 2025-26 state budget. RSVP for the Zoom login link.

Beginning in March, we’re excited to offer TWO “Policy Action” meetings each month, adding a forum on FEDERAL policies and legislation at 1PM on the FIRST Thursday of each month! We’ll be launching the first of these on THURSDAY AFTERNOON, MARCH 6TH! Space is limited, so register here TODAY!

And we’ll continue to host Policy Action meetings at 1PM on the THIRD Thursday of each month, focusing on the state-level policies and legislation, including state budget negotiations, funding for education, health care, and other vital services, and making PA’s billionaires and wealthy corporations pay their fair share! Stay tuned for info and an RSVP link for the monthly State Policy Action meeting on Thursday, March 20, at 1PM!

Wednesday 3/26! Save the Date and Reserve Your Seat!

2025 People’s Budget Summit & Day of Action
Wednesday, March 26th | 10:30AM – 4PM
PA Capitol Complex, Harrisburg

Join us for our 2025 People’s Budget Summit & Day of Action! This event will include workshops, a press conference, lobby training, and a post-event happy hour nearby. More details and registration link to come. Get more information and RSVP here!

SEND A LETTER! Tell Trump and the GOP Congress NO CUTS to Medicaid and SNAP to pay for tax giveaways for billionaires and wealthy corporations!

Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress are planning to extend & expand the 2017 Trump-GOP Tax Scam, giving EVEN MORE to billionaires and greedy corporations, and they want to pay for it by making drastic to Medicaid, CHIP, SNAP, and other programs that provide critical support for millions of Pennsylvanians. In PA, Medicaid provides health care to

• more than 2 million adults.
• more than 1.4 million children (including 200,000 served by CHIP).
• more than 1.4 million people who need mental or behavioral health care.
• more than 400,000 seniors who receive care in nursing homes, assisted living facilities or, in some cases, at home.
• more than 300,000 Pennsylvanians with substance use disorder.

Click here to send your letter, and share with a friend!

Join Your Neighbors!

LEVITTOWN: Pennsylvanians Together Community Conversation: Healthcare, Federal Tax Changes, and Impacts on Working Families- 6PM, Levittown. More details, here!

PEACEFUL PROTEST OPPORTUNITIES on President’s Day!

PHILADELPHIA: The People Demand Change march in Philadelphia – more information here!

HARRISBURG: 50/50/1 Unite for Democracy march in Harrisburg – learn more here!

PARTNER RESOURCES

We are sharing some of the resources that our allies, Make the Road PA and CASA, have shared related to protecting immigrants (and what to do if you see an ICE raid/presence). Check them out, below.

MTR PA – https://www.instagram.com/p/DFqvAnFRBtg/?img_index=1

CASA – https://www.instagram.com/p/DFYqLduzGi2/?img_index=1

DO YOUR OWN ACTION!

Do you want to do your own action by yourself or with friends to influence members of Congress? Whether you want to visit your members of Congress or hold an education event, a rally or a house party, we can help you organize it and recruit people to attend. Someone on our staff can come out and make a presentation as well. Contact our campaign director Dwayne Heisler at heisler@pennpolicy.org.

Get to Know – Erica Freeman, Pennsylvania Policy Center Deputy Communications Director

Hello, everyone! I’m the deputy communications director at PPC and in addition to editing our reports and materials, I do some writing and manage PPC’s websites as well as our presence on external platforms. (I’ve done the majority of the design work on the websites and our PowerPoint presentations but mostly just leave the design work to PPC’s talented resident professional: our deputy design and digital director, Adrienne.)

Erica Freeman

I began work in public policy after a career of fundraising research in various Philadelphia nonprofits, running my own copy editing business, and working as a copy editor at the Philadelphia Tribune, the nation’s oldest, continuously Black-owned newspaper. Over the years, in addition to having done volunteer editing for the Pennsylvania Prison Society, organizing an anti-Klan rally on Independence Mall, and participating in numerous other activist events, I worry (sometime obsessively) about the amount of the suffering in the world and have to keep my remote at the ready when watching TV because I can’t tolerate the promos about abused and neglected animals.

These days, I watch way too much MSNBC but can’t stop myself, eat a lot of comfort food, dabble in visual art, dream about interior design, and read fanatically. Recently, it’s been horror and suspense novels that distract me the most from the world’s troubles, however temporarily. It’s somewhat of a relief when the state of the nation and the world aren’t quite as frightening as what you’re reading on the pages of a book. I’m thankful, though, to be at the Pennsylvania Policy Center because I know that I’m working to make things better every day, which brings me some peace of mind.

We know there is anger, frustration, and uncertainty abounding in our world, and we are glad you’re here to continue to fight for policies that help all Pennsylvanians thrive. Thank you for your support!

In solidarity,

Marc Stier, Executive Director, Pennsylvania Policy Center and the Pennsylvania Policy Center Team of Adrienne, Castin, Dwayne, Erica, Jeff, Levana, and Kirstin

Connecting the Dots

By Blog Post

This is roughly what our executive director, Marc Stier, said today at the “50/50/1” event on the Capitol steps in Harrisburg. Over 400 people were there to protest the Trump administration’s march towards fascism.

It’s great to see at least four hundred of you here today. I know a lot of people were afraid to come to this event because they didn’t know who sponsored it. So, I applaud you for joining us. It’s going to take courage to fight back against the terrible things happening in Washington, and you are showing that today.

In my remarks today I want to connect the dots between the four things the Trump administration is doing publicly and one other thing that’s happening mostly behind closed doors in Washington. It is the far less public thing that ultimately explains the rest.

The first thing we know the Trump administration is doing is a series of unconstitutional, illegal, and immoral acts:

  • Freezing federal spending on about half of everything the federal government does.
  • Blocking all international aid and trying to close USAID.
  • Giving 20-something-year-old Elon Musk fanboys with no security clearances access to the federal payment system.

The second thing they are doing is shutting down DEI programs that are meant to encourage both public and private employers to seek employees who are women and people of color and to ensure that the workplace is welcoming to them.

The third is deporting undocumented immigrants, regardless of whether they have committed a criminal offense. Many of those deported have been living for years in our country with their citizen children, paying taxes, not receiving benefits, and doing jobs that might otherwise go unfilled.

The fourth is placing tariffs on our allies, tariffs that would disrupt our economy and lead to inflation had they been left in place.

The first two of these actions are unconstitutional and illegal. The last two are immoral and counterproductive. But there is also a fifth that’s happening behind closed doors.

Republicans in the US House are working on legislation, called a reconciliation bill, that would deeply cut taxes for wealthy corporations and the ultra-rich. This is an expansion of the 2017 tax cuts, which basically gave low-income folks around a $70 tax cut, middle-income folks a $910  tax cut, the top 1% a $61,000 tax cut, and the top .1% a tax cut of hundreds of $252,300.  The same tax cut slashed corporate taxes on wealthy multinational corporations.

House Republicans not only want to extend but expand the individual tax cuts and add to corporate tax cuts. Depending on exactly what they do, this would increase the federal deficit by $4.2  trillion over ten years or even more if additional corporate tax cuts are enacted.

And that’s the problem. Because, at the moment, House Republicans can’t afford to lose one vote to pass this legislation. And many Republicans can’t countenance such a big increase in the national debt. (Democrats will all vote no.)cpp

So, they are planning to offset the tax cuts with spending cuts. And they are looking at deep cuts to Medicaid and SNAP.

These programs are very popular because they help a huge number of people.

In Pennsylvania alone, Medicaid benefits

  • more than 2 million adults.
  • more than 1.4 million children.
  • more than 1.4 million people who need mental or behavioral health care benefits from Medicaid.
  • more than 400,000 seniors who receive long-term care in nursing homes or assisted living facilities.
  • more than 300,000 Pennsylvanians in treatment for a substance use disorder.

And more than two million Pennsylvanians rely on SNAP to pay for their groceries.

Over 60% of Americans will benefit from Medicaid at some time in their life.

Making these cuts to our social safety net is going to be hard to do because these programs are deeply popular.

How many of you want to see deep cuts to Medicaid. Or to SNAP?

To get the tax cuts he and his billionaire donors want, President Trump is doing all the illegal, unconstitutional, and immoral things I mentioned before.

  • He’s trying to go around Congress and make deep cuts in our spending without any legal or constitutional authority.
  • While he knows some courts will block his doing so—as they already have—he’s hoping the corrupt Supreme Court will let him get away with these actions, radically expanding his power, while also undermining, the power of not just Congress but the American people.
  • To reduce opposition to his tax cuts, Trump is trying to distract people.
    • He’s appealing to the racism and sexism of people who object to the small steps forward taken by Black people and women in the last 30 years.
    • He’s appealing to the xenophobia of people who think, wrongly, that Mexico and Canada are harming us by selling us things we want to buy and who also believe, wrongly, that foreign aid amounts to 40% of the federal budget when it is only about 1%.
  • And by bullying Congress, the Courts, Mexico, Canada, Colombia, and others, he’s trying to scare everyone who opposes him.

This is fascism, plain and simple.

And for those on the other side who ask us what fascism is, let me tell you. It is an authoritarian government that appeals to xenophobia and bigotry with the aim of rewarding those with immense wealth.

That’s what we are facing in America today.

So, the questions for all of us are:

Will we stand up to Trump and Musk?

Will we stand up to the billionaires they serve?

Will we stand up to stop the fascist takeover of the United States?

(Shouts of yes)

Good—because we need every one of you to

  • wake up your friends and neighbors.
  • call your members of Congress.
  • keep going out in the streets.

If we all do this together, we will defeat fascism in the United States—and save this country that could become truly great someday for our children and grandchildren.

 

logo for Penn Policy: Pennsylvania Policy Center

RELEASE: PA Organizations Demand Congress Reject More Tax Breaks for the Wealthy, Announce Major Tax Advocacy Campaign to Fight for Pennsylvanians’ Priorities

By Press Statement

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date: January 29, 2025

Contact: Erica Freeman, Deputy Communications Director, freeman@pennpolicy.org

Pennsylvania Organizations Demand Congress Reject More Tax Breaks for the Wealthy, Announce Major Tax Advocacy Campaign in Pennsylvania to Fight for Pennsylvanians’ Priorities

Harrisburg, PA—Today, Pennsylvania state-based organizations sent a letter to Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation, calling on them to stand against tax cuts for the wealthiest individuals and corporations as part of the upcoming federal tax debate in 2025. Representing more than 200,000 people, the diverse group emphasized the failures of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) and signaled they are ready to fight together in a joint demand for Congress and our state legislature to prioritize a fair tax code that supports Pennsylvania families.

Read the letter to the Pennsylvania congressional delegation here: https://pennpolicy.org/pennsylvania-organizations-opposed-to-medicaid-snap-cuts-and-tax-cuts-for-the-ultra-rich/.

“Pennsylvanians are struggling with many problems, including rising costs for groceries, childcare, and healthcare. They are not asking for more tax giveaways to billionaires and mega-corporations,” said Marc Stier, executive director of Pennsylvanians Together, the campaign that organized this effort. Congress should focus on what matters to working people and families. It should not give a costly tax cut to the wealthiest Americans.”

The 2017 tax law primarily benefited the rich and large corporations, leaving us behind. Key findings include:

  • The top 1% of earners saw after-tax income gains nearly three times larger than those in the bottom 60%.
  • 80% of the corporate tax cut benefits went to the wealthiest 10%, while most workers’ wages remained flat.
  • The corporate tax rate was slashed from 35% to 21%, lower than the marginal tax rate that many Pennsylvania workers pay.

“We have seen time and again that tax cuts don’t trickle down to working people,” said Dwayne Heisler, campaign director for Pennsylvanians Together. “The 2017 tax cuts didn’t deliver more investment, faster economic growth or higher wages. Instead, CEOs and shareholders did well while leaving most in Pennsylvania with higher costs and fewer resources. The decision Congress makes in the next few months will show whether our elected leaders are on the side of the people or the powerful.”

State Groups Organizing Advocacy Efforts for State and Federal Tax Policy

With key provisions of the 2017 tax law set to expire, and with important needs for more education, work-force development and infrastructure spending in Pennsylvania, many of the organizations listed have pledged to work together to ensure Congress and Pennsylvania make the most of the chance to make the tax code fairer and more effective. The state organizations urged lawmakers to reject further tax cuts for the wealthy and to instead:

  1. Make the tax code fairer by ensuring the rich and large corporations pay their fair share.
  2. Invest in workers and families, and grow the economy—child care, education, health care, and the clean energy transition.
  3. Avoid a fiscal crisis in states by rejecting cuts to federal education, health, and safety spending that funds state programs that address the well-being of Pennsylvanians.
  4. Focus on fiscal responsibility by not adding to the deficit or national debt through new giveaways for the wealthy.

“Cutting taxes for the wealthiest households and corporations isn’t just unfair—it’s bad for our economy,” said Stier. “These policies widen inequality, grow the deficit, and prevent meaningful investments in the programs and infrastructure that help working families thrive.”

Also, funding these tax cuts for the rich will almost guarantee cuts to vital programs that Pennsylvanians rely on. Republican members of Congress have floated the idea of paying for an extension of the TCJA by reducing federal expenditures for Medicaid, CHIP, and SNAP. Pennsylvania voters, like voters in other states, strongly support these programs, and with good reason. Medicaid provides critical support for millions of Pennsylvanians.

Polling shows that voters across the political spectrum oppose tax breaks for the wealthy. A recent survey found that 76% of Pennsylvania voters are estimated to believe corporations pay too little in taxes, including a majority of low- and middle-income Republican voters. “We in Pennsylvania are united like never before in support of fair taxes that pay for the public investments we need to flourish today and into the future,” said Stier.

For more information, please contact

Marc Stier
Executive Director
Pennsylvania Policy Center
stier@pennpolicy.org
215-880-6142

 

 

Pennsylvania Organizations Opposed to Medicaid and SNAP Cuts, and Tax Cuts for the Ultra-Rich

By Blog Post

January 29, 2025

This letter from Pennsylvania organizations was sent to all members of the PA congressional delegation today.

As you know, the incoming Trump administration and the Republican congressional leaders plan to extend and potentially expand the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), which is set to expire at the end of 2025.

We urge you to use the expiration of these provisions as an opportunity to address long-standing inequities in our tax code and to raise more revenue to meet our country’s current obligations and address critical unmet needs.  We also urge you not to reduce federal funding for the Medicaid, CHIP, and SNAP programs.

No matter what we look like or where we’re from, all Pennsylvanians believe in caring for their families and community. People in our state work hard, giving our all as teachers, delivery drivers, and nurses, volunteering at the local food bank or for a neighborhood cleanup. And while we believe in first relying on ourselves and our families whenever possible, we know that our success as individuals, families, and communities also depends on a vibrant public sector that educates our young people; provides vital public goods such as transportation infrastructure, protection from pollution and climate change, and basic medical and other research; and creates a safety net, protecting those of us who suffer from unemployment, disability, poverty or illness.

Regardless of who we voted for in November, the vast majority of Pennsylvanians believe in a government that accomplishes these goals and is paid for by a tax system that asks everyone to pay their fair share. They oppose—and did not vote in 2024 for—giving tax cuts to the wealthiest households and corporations.

Our recent poll powerfully shows that voters of all parties believe that taxes are unfair in the United States today. A majority of voters believe that our tax system takes too much from working people, while allowing ultra-rich Americans and wealthy corporations to pay too little.

We found that

  • 76% of Pennsylvanians support raising taxes on wealthy corporations.
  • 76% support increasing taxes on the wealthiest households.
  • 77% support raising taxes on households earning more than $400,000 a year.
  • 57% support raising the federal corporate tax rate from the 21% level set in the TCJA.

(Poll results for each congressional district can be found in the addendum to this letter. A strong majority in support of each of these ideas can be found in every congressional district.)

The TCJA was unpopular in 2017. And it remains so today, for good reason. The claims made on behalf of the TCJA have turned out to be false.

  • The proponents of these tax cuts said big corporate tax cuts would trickle down to big increases in wages for workers — but the typical worker got nothing from it.
  • They said the bill would pay for itself — it actually increased the deficit by $2 trillion.
  • They said the tax cuts would create jobs, but the evidence doesn’t show that.

An extension of the TCJA would have even worse results. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget says it would increase deficits by about $7.5 trillion over 10 years. And the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that President Trump’s tax plans would lead “to a tax cut for the richest 5 percent of Americans and a tax increase for the other 95 percent of Americans.”

Republican members of Congress have floated the idea of paying for an extension of the TCJA by reducing federal expenditures for Medicaid, CHIP, and SNAP. Pennsylvania voters, like voters in other states, strongly support these programs, again with good reason. Medicaid provides critical support for millions of Pennsylvanians.

Medicaid provides health care to

  • over 2 million adults.
  • over 1.4 million children (including 200,000 served by CHIP).
  • over 1.4 million people who need mental or behavioral health care.
  • over 400,000 seniors, who receive care in nursing homes, assisted living facilities or, in some cases, at home.
  • over 300,000 Pennsylvanians with a substance use disorder.
  • over 2 million people, who rely on SNAP to pay for their groceries.

Reductions in Medicaid and CHIP spending of the kind being talked about recently in Washington, DC, threaten to cost the state of Pennsylvania between 2 and 5 billion dollars each year. That would leave our state government with the difficult choice of trying to replace some federal dollars with money from Pennsylvania taxpayers or drastically reducing eligibility for Medicaid or coverage for medical problems. While we would hope the state would provide some funding to replace that which is lost, it simply does not have the resources to make up for the kinds of Medicaid reductions being bandied about now.

Nor should it. No candidate for office, in either party, campaigned on a plan to devastate health care for millions of people in our state or any other state.

So, we urge you to oppose extending, let alone expanding, tax giveaways to billionaires and wealthy corporations and, even more, the attempt to pay for some of them by taking health care away from millions of Pennsylvanians and tens of millions of people across the country.

Signed,

Action Together NEPA

AFSCME Council 13
Community Legal Services
Cumberland County Food System Alliance (CCFSA)
Cumberland Valley Rising
Food Dignity
Hershey Indivisible Team
Just Harvest
Keystone Progress Education Fund
Make the Road Pennsylvania
National Council of Jewish Women–Greater Philadelphia
NEPA Green Coalition
PA 10th District Network
PA Council of Children, Youth & Family Services
Pennsylvania Policy Center
Philly Neighborhood Networks
Planned Parenthood Pennsylvania Advocates
Protect Our Care PA
Reclaim Philadelphia
SEIU PA State Council
SeniorLAW Center
The Partnership for Better Health PA
UUJusticePA

Trump’s Executive Order Freezing Federal Payments Is Harmful, Illegal and Unconstitutional

By Blog Post, Press Statements

Late on Monday, the Trump administration issued an executive order halting payment of grants and loans to state and local governments, social service providers, and others. This action is illegal and unconstitutional. And it is likely to cause immediate and widespread harm to people and families across our state and the country. It must be rescinded by the President as soon as possible.

There are still many uncertainties about the impact of the order. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget has issued a number of clarifications of it—however, they have done little to clarify the scope and intention of the order.

It appears now that funding for state and local programs that provide veterans’ services, ensure public safety, and help seniors will be halted. So will some funding for our school districts and federal support for child care as will funding for programs that protect our air and water from pollution, support our farmers, and provide help for those who are food-insecure. Funding for rental assistance and housing rehabilitation will be blocked as well.

In addition, organizations that provide direct services will lose funding. This means that some programs may not be able to meet their payroll in a week or two and others will have to borrow money at high interest rates just to stay open.

And whether it’s a student with disabilities unable to get support from their school district, a veteran who loses their transitional housing, a senior who can’t get a ride to doctor’s appointments, a family that loses renter assistance, or a city that can’t afford to pay its police officers, millions of people’s lives will be made much harder and may even be put at risk completely by this action.

The Pennsylvania state budget receives a total of $46 billion from the federal government to support a wide range of programs. While we believe that some of the largest of those programs—including Medicaid / Medical Assistance, Title I funding for schools, and Pell Grants—are not included in the funding freeze, we estimate that at least $14 billion of federal grants to the state is at stake. At the moment, we cannot precisely estimate the amount of federal funding of social service agencies that is at risk. But it is a great deal of money.

In addition to the damage that will be done to individuals and families, state and local government employees, and social service agencies, the sudden and unclear order will create chaos throughout our state.

And on top of all that, the order is both illegal and unconstitutional. It is an example of what was called in the 1970s “impoundment,” the practice by which the president and his administration withholds funds that have been authorized and appropriated by the Congress. The Impoundment Act of 1974 makes it illegal for the president to take such action without seeking approval of Congress and providing a reasonable rationale for the action. And in 1975, the Supreme Court ruled that impoundment was unconstitutional in Train v. City of New York.

The Trump administration’s action is not just deeply damaging to the people of Pennsylvania and the entire country but is deeply damaging to our constitutional and legal order. President Trump must immediately reverse the order to ensure everyone can continue to access the essential public services they count on to meet their basic needs.

Update: February 13

Soon after we wrote this post, federal courts blocked the Tump-Musk freeze on spending. But they have followed the freeze with more unconstitutional and illegal shenanigans.

  • They are now in the process of shutting down not one or two but three federal agencies,  USAID, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the Department of Education. To be clear, those agencies were created by Congress. No president has the right to to shut them down without an act of Congress.
  • It appears they have not fully complied with two court orders to lift the spending freeze. Just yesterday they demand New York City return funds that were appropriately and legally send to the city to reimburse for providing housing for immigrants (and pace Musk, not in luxury hotels).
  • Attorney General Bondi is suing sanctuary cities to force them to use their police resources to round up undocumented immigrants. This is an unconstitutional request. States are semi-sovereign entities that are independent of the federal government. The federal government may not commandeer the police forces of our cities or states.
  • Trump and Musk have fired the Inspector Generals of federal departments even though the law the created those position explicitly say the president may not fire them.
  • Trump is corrupting the administration of justice by having his attorney general order that federal charges against Mayor Eric Adams be dropped. In return, Davis has ordered members of his administration to not criticize the president. Rules prohibiting the president from making decisions about who should be prosecuted and who not were instituted after the Nixon administration precisely to prevent a president from using this power to corrupt the administration of justice and  to do so in a way that illegitimately expands his power.

All of these actions are the act of a dictator not a president. And they should make us worry about the fate of our representative democracy.

Perhaps the  courts will block  Trump from taking these illegal and unconstitutional actions. And perhaps he will obey the courts.  But there are two other possibilities.

One is that the Supreme Court, composed of a majority of justices Trump has picked, will legitimate actions that to any unbiased legal mind are clearly illegal and unconstitutional.

The other is that the Supreme Court will rule against Trump and then Trump will ignore their ruling.

Frankly, at this point, we are not sure which  would be a worse result. But either way, the president will be acting lawlessly. And that means our form of government as we have known it, has been overthrown. For we will have a president who will and, if not stopped in some other way, can do anything he wants. And that is not the president created by a constitution in place since 1789 and the laws that have been enacted under it.

We don’t know what happens then. We hope a massive outpouring of protest will encourage President Trump to think twice about destroying our form of government or embolden a majority of members of Congress to act.

But we would be dishonest if  we did not say that we are deeply worried when we think about what a president untethered  by any legal or constitutional constraints might do in response to massive protests.

logo for Penn Policy: Pennsylvania Policy Center

RELEASE: Penn Policy Center, Pennsylvanians Together, and Action Together NEPA Hold Community Conversation – ‘Healthcare and Federal Tax Changes: Impacts on PA Working Families’ 

By Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

January 28, 2025 

Contact: Kirstin Snow, Communications Director, snow@pennpolicy.org  

Pennsylvania Policy Center, Pennsylvanians Together Campaign, Action Together NEPA, Labor, Partners Hold Community Conversation: “Healthcare and Federal Tax Changes: Impacts on PA Working Families” 

Lehigh Valley, PAThe Pennsylvania Policy Center, the statewide affiliate of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, and its action arm, Pennsylvanians Together, in partnership with Action Together NEPA, held a Community Conversation on Monday, January 27, 6-7:30PM.  

The event focused on the proposed federal cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, and other critical programs that could be addressed in the federal reconciliation bill as soon as this month. These cuts pose a serious threat to Pennsylvania and our state budget potentially creating a multibillion-dollar shortfall and jeopardizing priorities like public education. Discussions in Washington, DC, about extending and expanding the 2017 tax cuts only heightens these threats for working families in Pennsylvania.  

The event was open to everyone and included a real conversation about policy proposals that could harm Pennsylvanians, and what we can do about them.  

WHO: The event featured the following speakers:  

  • Tara Zrinski, Northampton County Controller 
  • Sabrina McLaughlin-Willinsky, for Senator John Fetterman’s office 
  • Marc Stier, Executive Director, Pennsylvania Policy Center 
  • Jessica Brittain, Communications Director, Action Together NEPA 
  • Kristin Volchansky, Advocacy Director, Action Together NEPA 

CONVERSATION QUOTES: 

Senator John Fetterman: “Pennsylvania families rely on programs like Medicaid and SNAP to make ends meet, put food on the table, and get the health care they need. No matter who is in the White House, I will fight to protect these programs for families and seniors. I’ve promised to jam up any legislation that cuts SNAP and I stand by that. We need to defend and expand these programs, not slash them to fund tax cuts for big corporations.”   

Marc Stier, Pennsylvania Policy Center: “Pennsylvanians face a double threat: First, tax cuts for the wealthy multinational corporations and ultra-rich individuals. And, to pay for those tax cuts, we expect cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, and other critical programs and tariffs that will raise taxes and increase the costs of goods for all of us. If these plans are adopted, the vast majority of Pennsylvanians will suffer.”  

Kristin Volchansky, Advocacy Director for Action Together NEPA: “Millions of Pennsylvanians rely on programs like Medicaid and SNAP. They aren’t just statistics – they’re our neighbors, our friends, and our coworkers. They’re our kids, our parents, and our grandparents. I am one of those Pennsylvanians for whom Medicaid was a lifeline. Medicaid coverage ensured my ability to access care and allowed me to regain my independence. Drastic cuts to these programs would have a devastating impact on families and communities across our Commonwealth.” 

Tara Zrinski, Controller for Northampton County: “We need to begin an honest and hard conversation about cuts to Medicaid and SNAP. County employees process applications, administer funds, and provide outreach and case management to help individuals and families. It may be easy to make cuts when you are sitting at the federal level, but at the county level it is very hard to look people in the eye and tell them there is no relief.” 

Pennsylvanians Together is a campaign working to ensure that all Pennsylvanians can thrive—not just survive. For too long, we’ve let politicians, who serve the interests of corporations, and the rich divide us based on what we look like, where we come from, where we worship, how much money we have or whether we are native-born or immigrants. By dividing us, they have given us public policies that do too little to help most Pennsylvanians while making the rich and corporations even wealthier. 

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Republicans Want to Reject Federal Climate Change Funding for Neglected PA Communities

By Blog Post

The Biden administration made an historic investment in American infrastructure with the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Together, these bills put two trillion dollars into projects such as long-overdue bridge maintenance and cutting-edge clean energy plants. Pennsylvania alone will see more than $20 billion in new federal dollars going to state agencies; local and county governments; and other groups, including nonprofits, school districts, and businesses.

Republicans in congress plan to revoke more than $10 billion in unspent IRA and IIJA funds in Pennsylvania alone, cutting hundreds of good paying government jobs in construction, manufacturing, and transportation across the state.

While funds are still available, Pennsylvania is acting quickly to assure that investments from the IRA and IIJA do not leave low-income and historically disadvantaged communities behind. The Biden administration rolled out funding according to the Justice40 Initiative, which dictates that 40% of certain federal investments are to be spent in underinvested communities. Pennsylvania has appointed an infrastructure investment coordinator, Jessica Shirley, to ensure that the state takes advantage of all the funding that’s available to it. Specific projects include plugging 27,000 abandoned oil and gas wells, improving the reliability and resiliency of rural electric grids, and providing 469 low- and no-emission buses to school districts. These programs merely scratch the surface of the work now underway thanks to IIJA and IRA funding.

Climate-related investments are a major focus of both the IIJA and IRA, with nearly two-thirds of IRA funds going toward clean energy. Funding in the amount of $250.6 billion is available via grants, loans, and tax incentives for clean energy generation and storage. Public agencies, nonprofits, and individuals are all eligible to receive funding.

The IRA also allocates a $186 million increase to Pennsylvania’s Weatherization Assistance program. This funding is available to low-income homeowners to install improvements such as high efficiency appliances, insulation, and roof improvements, which lower monthly energy bills and ensure homes are better prepared for extreme weather. As of January 2025, tax credits for lowering energy costs are currently available with rebates for home electrification and energy efficiency upgrades available early this year.

Consumers of any income level can claim old clean energy and efficiency tax credits for any qualifying purchase. Households can deduct up to 30% of the cost of installing solar panels and insulation, as well as purchasing other items to reduce energy emissions. Developers are eligible for certain credits of up to $5,000 to meet energy efficiency standards, and commercial buildings can receive credits for reductions in energy use.

The climate investments in the IRA and IIJA are not limited to individual households—in fact, the US Department of Agriculture’s Urban and Community Forestry Program awarded $28 million to 11 local and county Pennsylvania governments to expand tree canopies in urban, suburban, and rural communities. Additionally, in 2024 the Department of Transportation awarded four of Pennsylvania’s local governments $163.5 million to reconnect communities without direct access to economic opportunities, schools, and essential services.

Another investment relevant to Pennsylvania is the Abandoned Mine Land program. Abandoned mines pose a particular threat to rural communities, where residents are forced to rely on easily contaminated well water. Pennsylvania alone will receive $3.7 billion over 15 years to remediate problems such as acid mine drainage, potentially explosive natural gas remnants, and drinking water contamination across hundreds of sites.

Each award represents transformative work. For example, one of the awardees from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Community Change Grant Program, Pittsburgh Conservation Corps, “will work in disadvantaged neighborhoods in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia to expand and create critical infrastructure for upcycling and commercializing materials from urban tree waste. The project will offer workforce development and training for area residents to provide career pathways in land stewardship services and wood products.”

Along with transformative work in communities, school districts can expect to benefit from the IIJA’s Clean School Bus Rebate Program. These benefits will synergize with tax credits from the IRA. Schools can claim up to $40,000 for each commercial clean vehicle weighing more than 14,000 pounds and up to $100,000 for each unit of charging infrastructure built in low-income and non-urban areas.

At present, 469 electric school buses have been committed to Pennsylvania schools. The clean commercial tax credit could add $18.76 million to Pennsylvania school district budgets, depending on how the districts claimed the IIJA rebates and purchased the buses.

 

 

 

RELEASE: Trump Priorities Pose Stark Contrast to MLK’s Vision of Equality and Opportunity for All People

By Press Statements

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Contact: Kirstin Snow, snow@pennpolicy.org

TRUMP PRIORITIES POSE STARK CONTRAST TO MLK’S VISION OF EQUALITY AND OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL PEOPLE  

Trump’s Plan to Fund More Tax Breaks for the Wealthy ByCutting Health Care for Millions Repudiates MLK’s Legacy and Takes America Backwards  

 

Pennsylvania Billionaires Are $120 Billion Wealthier Over 7 Years of Trump Tax Law, Yet Republicans Plan to Give Them $5.5 Trillion More  

  

Harrisburg, PA As Donald Trump begins his second presidential term on Martin Luther King Day, the contrast between the two leaders couldn’t be more stark. Trump and his fellow Republicans in Congress have made it their top priority to slash health care and other vital public services for working families to fund trillions in tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy and large corporations. King, the civil rights icon and working families champion, envisioned a democracy of equal opportunity in which everyone in America, no matter where they live or what they look like, has access to affordable health care they can count on, good public education, safe housing, and other basics that average people need to prosper in today’s economy. In contrast, President Trump and GOP leaders in Congress are promoting policies that help the rich get richer at the expense of everyone else. 

 

Trump and the GOP already cut taxes mostly for the rich and corporations the last time they controlled Congress, in 2017. Thanks in part to those tax cuts, Pennsylvania billionaires have grown $120 billion richer in just the seven years since Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) was enacted. Nationwide, billionaires have added $3.9 trillion to their collective wealth in those seven years according to an ongoing tally by Americans for Tax Fairness using Forbes data. Tax breaks for the wealthy under the TCJA added $2 trillion to the national debt, while doing little to create jobs or benefit averageincome people struggling with rising prices and high costs.  

 

Image 

Net Worth 

Jan 07, 2025 

($ Millions) 

Net Worth 

Dec 30, 2017 

($ Millions) 

7-Year 

Wealth Growth 

($ Millions) 

7-Year 

Wealth Growth 

(Percent) 

All PA Billionaires 

$139,330 

$18,900 

$120,430 

637.2% 

Jeff Yass 

$49,636 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

Arthur Dantchik 

$12,268 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

Victoria Mars 

$10,746 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

Michael Rubin 

$10,629 

$2,900 

$7,729 

266.5% 

Thomas Hagen 

$7,509 

$2,100 

$5,409 

257.6% 

Edward Stack 

$5,565 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

Mitchell Morgan 

$5,501 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

Jeffrey Lurie 

$5,320 

$2,000 

$3,320 

166.0% 

John Middleton 

$4,092 

$3,000 

$1,092 

36.4% 

 

Many of the same Republicans who voted for the law, including Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, Rep. Scott Perry, Rep. Lloyd Smucker, Rep. Glenn Thompson, and Rep. Mike Kelly, are now citing recordhigh debt as an excuse to cut Medicaid, Medicare, the Affordable Care Actand other public investments to increase economic security for working families.  

 

Most of the Republican tax law expires at the end of this year, but Trump and some leaders in Congress want to permanently extend it at a further cost of $5.5 trillion. The bulk of these breaks would continue to go to the rich, while working families would face higher health care costs, loss of critical services, and bigger future deficits. 

 

“I feel sure the man whose birth we celebrate this day, Dr. King, would be outraged by the tax-and-spending plans of the man we swear into office this same day, Mr. Trump,” said Marc Stier, executive director of the Pennsylvania Policy Center. “The astronomical growth in the wealth of billionaires in Pennsylvania and around the country in the seven years since the Trump-GOP tax law was enacted is a clear indication of who the Trump tax cuts were meant to serveand who will benefit if Congress permanently extends those cuts. It’s also clear who will pay for more tax breaks for the rich: working families across the board will suffer under an extended tax law even as our economy becomes more unequal and as the racial and economic divides deepen and we teeter further and further away from Dr. King’s dream.” 

 

Many price-gouging corporations will also continue to benefit disproportionately under the Trump tax law. The centerpiece of the 2017 tax law was a two-fifths cut in the corporate tax rate, from 35% to 21%. Corporations didn’t need a tax cut since they were already enjoying record profits and the share of federal revenue they contributed had substantially shrunk in the prior few decades. Trump and the GOP claimed their big corporate tax cut would trickle down to workers and communities, but instead it’s been used to further enrich wealthy CEOs and shareholders even as consumers faced persistent inflation and price increases on everything from rent to groceries. The corporate tax cut is one of the main reasons the Trump-GOP tax law was so slanted towards the richest 10% of Americans, who own 93% of all corporate stock. Health care corporations like UnitedHealth Group were among the firms experiencing record profits even as premiums and outofpocket costs continue to rise. 

 

Extending the Trump tax breaks will only make things worse, heaping more benefits on those who need them least, while cutting health care for people of all ages, shifting costs to families, and widening the gulf between billionaires and the rest of us. In our state alone, the richest 1% of households would get a $68,700 annual tax cut, while the bottom 60% would get only $530 on average if Trump and Congressional Republicans were to get their way.  

 

Image 

More tax breaks for the wealthiest households and large corporations take our nation in the wrong direction by doubling down on inequality, making cuts in the critical resources that families depend on most, and rolling back progress in health and economic security. The Republican proposal to extend tax breaks for the wealthy, for instance, would strip millions of health care coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Although premiums are still too high for some households and businesses, improvements to the ACA tax credits have expanded coverage and have made health insurance more affordable for millions more people over the last several years, saving enrollees an average of $700 in 2024 and resulting in record enrollment numbers.  

 

Improvements in health care coverage under the ACA and Medicaid have resulted in recordlow numbers of uninsured people, but some policies are set to expire at the end of 2025. Republicans are already refusing to extend enhanced tax credits that benefit 92% of people who buy ACA coverage. Without these, premiums will shoot up for millions of ACA policyholders, increasing by over 75% on average for ACA enrollees. In some states, patients will see costs more than double, making coverage unaffordable. In Pennsylvania, a 60year-old couple making 400% of poverty would have to pay an additional $16,500 if the enhanced tax credits are not renewed by the end of 2025.  

 

An Urban Institute study estimates that around 4 million people would lose coverage altogether and be left uninsured if the enhanced premium tax credits expire. People with low incomes and people of color would see the greatest losses. In Pennsylvania, an estimated 32,000 people would lose coverage, resulting in a 5 percentageincrease in the uninsured population. Currently, 472,000 people in Pennsylvania receive their health care coverage through the ACA.  

 

The biggest cuts to health care proposed so far are to the Medicaid program, which provides health coverage for nearly 80 million peopleof all ages, including 3.1 million people from Pennsylvania. To pay for more tax breaks for the rich and corporations, Republicans are proposing a $2.3 trillion cut to the joint federalstate program that funds health care for over half of U.S. children as well as long-term care for seniors and people with disabilities. Medicaid is the leading source of health care for low-income workers, leading payer for births,and biggest provider of substance abuse and mental health treatment.  

 

In addition to taking health care from millions of patients, cutting Medicaid also disrupts state budgets. Medicaid is the largest source of federal aid to the states and plays a critical role in supporting rural hospitals, disaster relief efforts, and states with the fastest growing population of people 65 and over. As America confronts an unprecedented wave of aging people, demand and cost for Medicaid will only increase. The share of the population over 65 years old is projected to jump by almost half over the next 25 years, to over 80 million 

 

Increased access to affordable health care through the ACA and Medicaid have benefited everyone and started to address longstanding racial, gender, and economic disparities in access to health care. Black, Latino, Asian, and Native American people, who are the most likely to lack access to affordable coverage, gained the most from investment in these programs. The uninsured rate among Black people fell by almost halffrom 20.9% to 10.8%—between 2010 (when the ACA was enacted) and 2022 when the Biden reforms were in place. The Latino uninsured rate fell by almost as much, and the rate among Asian Americans fell by even more. Much of that progress is threatened by the health care cuts proposed by Trump and the Republicans to help pay for their tax breaks for the rich. And, because rich people are disproportionately white, trading health care coverage for tax giveaways to wealthy households would doubly exacerbate the nation’s racial economic divide. The average white household is almost a quarter-million-dollars richer than the average Black family, and that gap has grown in recent years.  

 

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Policy Pulse – January 2025

By Blog Post, Newsletter

The New Year Brings A New Fight Ahead

As we settle into 2025, we have new ways to make our voices heard, and strong partnerships to engage with us to work for policies that lift up all working people of PA, and across the country. Our fresh focus this year as part of our ongoing tax justice campaign is a “Federal Fight Back” to bring attention to the proposed federal cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, and other critical programs that Republicans will use to pay for extending and expanding the Trump 2017 tax cuts for the ultra-rich and wealthy multinational corporations. These cuts could be part of a federal budget and reconciliation bill coming as soon as the end of this month. One of the first things we’ve done is to hold community conversations in the eastern part of the state. More on those, below. We hope you, too, are looking for ways to continue forward on a path for all Pennsylvanians to thrive, not just survive. We hope to see you at an event, or on zoom, soon!


TOMORROW!

JOIN US TOMORROW (1/16) at 1PM for our Policy Action meeting, which will feature Congressman Brendan Boyle (PA-02), Ranking Member of US House Budget Committee! Register here: https://bit.ly/PolicyAction01-16.

 

Congressman Boyle

In addition to Congressman Boyle, we will also be joined by Jeff Iseman, Public Policy & Outreach Coordinator, from the Pennsylvania Statewide Independent Living Council (PA SILC) www.pasilc.org. PA SILC is a nonprofit, cross-disability, consumer-controlled organization that uses collective power and legal mandate to advance public policies that ensure civil rights and expand options for all people with disabilities in all aspects of life.

Also joining the panel is Stuart Haniff, MHA, Executive Director, Hunger-Free Pennsylvania / PA Food Bankshttps://www.hungerfreepa.org/

HFPA is the state’s single largest nonprofit provider of food resources and meals to older Pennsylvanians and hungry families, working in partnership with state and federal governments and nonprofit organizations.

The focus of the meeting is on the upcoming Trump-GOP attacks on vital programs that make it possible for everyone to access affordable health care and food (Medicaid, SNAP, & other federal programs) in order to give tax handouts to billionaires & wealthy corporations — and what we can do to fight back.  RSVP today! https://bit.ly/PolicyAction01-16


What is Federal Fight Back?

 

Overview of the Issue

Donald Trump and Republican leaders in Congress want to extend and expand the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) – a tax giveaway to billionaires and wealthy corporations – which is set to expire at the end of 2025. They want to pay for this by making drastic cuts to federal spending for Medicaid, CHIP, and SNAP.

Medicaid provides critical health care support to millions of Pennsylvanians, including seniors, kids, students, and people seeking mental health care or treatment for substance use disorders. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, also known as “food stamps”) helps more than two million Pennsylvanians put food on the table by helping to pay for their groceries.

 

What’s at risk?

 

In Pennsylvania, Medicaid provides health care to:

  • more than 2 million adults.
  • more than 1.4 million children (including 200,000 served by CHIP, the Children’s Health Progam).
  • more than 1.4 million people who need mental or behavioral health care.
  • more than 400,000 seniors who receive care in nursing homes, assisted living facilities or, in some cases, at home.
  • more than 300,000 Pennsylvanians in treatment for a substance use disorder.

 

And more than two million Pennsylvanians rely on SNAP to pay for their groceries.

Cuts to Medicaid and CHIP spending could pose a serious threat to the Pennsylvania state budget by creating a multi-billion-dollar shortfall, jeopardizing priorities like public education funding. Cuts like those proposed would reduce federal support for the Pennsylvania budget $2 billion to $5 billion each year. That would leave our state government with the difficult choice of trying to replace some federal dollars with funds raised from Pennsylvania taxpayers or drastically reducing eligibility for or coverage by Medicaid.

Reminder: What happened with the 2017 tax scam?

 

The Tax Cut and Jobs Act (TCJA) was unpopular in 2017. And it remains so today, for good reason.

  • The Trump tax scam did not pay for itself but increased the federal deficit by $2 trillion. An extension of the TCJA would be even worse! The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget says it would increase deficits by about $7.5 trillion over 10 years.
  • The proponents of these tax cuts said big corporate tax cuts would trickle down, raising wages for workers; but the typical worker got nothing from it. Instead, the ultra-rich and corporate executives received huge stock buybacks, saving them even more in taxes.
  • They said the tax cuts would create new investment and jobs; but the evidence shows that didn’t happen.

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that extending and expanding the TCJA would lead to “a tax cut for the wealthy multi-national corporations and richest 5 percent of Americans—much of which goes to the top .1%—and a tax increase for the other 95 percent.” Taxpayers like us would pay for the public investments that wealthy businesses need.

All while cutting funding for critical programs like Medicaid, CHIP, and SNAP to pay for the tax cuts!  What YOU can do- Click here to sign the petition!


 

Get to Know ... our PPC interns! We know this won’t be the last time we see them fighting for progressive policies in PA!

 

Bevin Greenwald: “As an intern for the Pennsylvania Policy Center, I have been fortunate to work alongside a team of passionate individuals seeking tax justice for hardworking Pennsylvanians. My interest in non-profit work was motivated by my degrees in Communications and Gender studies, where I learned about issues of systematic oppression. I have learned valuable skills about working collaboratively, producing social media content, and conducting research both about our government representatives, and our local resources which can be critical to connecting with our communities and organizing events.”

Anna Cham: “Hi my Name is Anna and I’m an Intern at PPC. I am extremely grateful for the chance to gain work experience while in undergrad. I would like to thank the PPC for creating such a great opportunity for young organizers such as myself. I’ve learned so much from social media communications [mainly concerning an infamous orange cat with a cigar] to more administrative work like database management. Thankful for everything I’ve learned here and I’m excited to take this experience away!”

Thank You to Our Amazing Interns! – Dwayne Heisler, Campaign Director, PPC

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to our two incredible 2024 interns Anna Cham and Bevin Greenwald, whose hard work and creativity made a lasting impact at the Pennsylvania Policy Center. They played a key role in advancing the Pennsylvanians Together Campaign and helped bring Mr. Riggs, our beloved inflatable fat cat mascot, to life for the Tax Justice campaign. Their efforts to update our legislative contact list ensured that our outreach remains strong, while their engaging social media posts reached a younger audience with our Tax Justice message. Additionally, they developed a comprehensive bookstore contact list in preparation for the early 2025 release of our upcoming Tax Justice book. Thank you both for your dedication and enthusiasm—you’ve been an integral part of our success this year!


 

Get Involved — and We’re In the News!

Last week the Pennsylvania Policy Center and its action arm, Pennsylvanians Together, in partnership with Action Together NEPA, held a Community Conversation at the UFCW 1776 Union Hall in Jenkins Township, PA. This was the first of our Federal Fight Back events.

The event focused on the proposed federal cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, and other critical programs that could be addressed in the federal reconciliation bill as soon as this month. These cuts pose a serious threat to Pennsylvania and our state budget potentially creating a multi-billion dollar shortfall and jeopardizing priorities like public education. Discussions in Washington about extending and expanding the 2017 tax cuts only heightens these threats for working families in Pennsylvania.

The event was open to everyone and included a real conversation about policy proposals that could harm Pennsylvanians, and what we can do about them. For the full release, click here! To view the news story on the eventclick here!

Save the Date! Our Next Community Conversation – Healthcare & Federal Tax Changes: January 27, 2025, Time 6-730PM, Fowler Family Southside Center (Northampton Community College), 511 E. Third St., Bethlehem, PA 18015


We hope to see you tomorrow in our first Policy Action meeting of the year.

In solidarity, 

Marc Stier, Executive Director, Pennsylvania Policy Center and the Pennsylvania Policy Center Team of Adrienne, Castin, Dwayne, Erica, Jeff, Levana, and Kirstin

Comments Given at the PA Schools Work Press Event – January 2025

By Blog Post, Remarks

by Marc Stier

I’m here to call on the General Assembly to fill the remaining $4 billion gap needed to adequately fund our schools in four years. Let me explain why PA Schools Work believes this is a reasonable goal.

The education budget adopted for the current 2024–25 fiscal year accomplished three very important things. And, unusually for a state budget, the most important accomplishment may be less well known than the less important ones.

First, most people know that the state added more than $1 billion to the state’s support for K–12 education. This is the largest one-year investment in the state’s history.

Second, many people know that this budget shifted the paradigm for state funding of education. Instead of directing most of the new money through the fair funding formula benefitting all districts, the bulk of new funding was, for the first time, dedicated to school districts that were inadequately funded—and that had been for a long time.

And third, relatively few people recognize that the distribution of this adequacy funding was determined by a formula adopted by both Democrats and Republicans—and supported by education advocates like ourselves. The General Assembly and Governor have set clear standards for what adequate funding would be for every school district in the state. We now have a bipartisan political agreement that tells us how much each school district must spend to provide an adequate education and how much the state should provide of that funding.

The adequacy formula is based on state standards for an adequate education. It is derived from an analysis of how much successful schools in Pennsylvania spend. And that analysis is then applied to each school district, adjusting funding levels for the particular needs of the students in each district and the ability of each district to raise funds on its own.

Governor Shapiro and the General Assembly deserve a great deal of credit for this bipartisan achievement. But we also know that they reached this agreement, in part, because the Pennsylvania Courts demanded it. Judge Jubelirer’s decision in the education funding lawsuit made it clear that the way we fund schools was not only immoral, as our campaign has said for years, but unconstitutional. Judge Jubelirer’s profound decision set a constitutional goal—adequate and equitable funding for every school— but she left it up to the General Assembly to determine exactly what level of funding is needed to meet that goal.

That is what the General Assembly and Governor did in June. They determined that adequately and equitably funding schools in Pennsylvania required that the state spend an additional $4.5 billion and distribute that money by using the agreed-upon formula.

However, the budget for the current fiscal year only added about $500 million in adequacy funding. That means we need another $4 billion in state aid to our schools to meet the lawsuit’s requirements, as determined by the General Assembly itself.

We understand that the state cannot, and should not, add $4 billion in one fell swoop. School districts really don’t have the capacity to absorb and effectively spend that much so quickly.

But we also believe that the state cannot put off adding this new funding for too long. That’s why today we are calling on the state to add an additional billion dollars in adequacy funding to the state budget in each of the next four years. Or, as our slogan says, we are demanding that the state “fill it in four.”

Every year we fall short of the additional $4 billion in adequacy spending is one more year in which we fail to meet our moral and constitutional responsibility to the children of the state. Every year we fall short of providing a fully adequate education to our children, we leave more of them behind, making it more difficult for them to reach their full potential. Every year we fall short of filling the adequacy gap in four years, we shortchange our state of the huge benefits of our most precious resource, the talents and abilities of our children.

That’s why we must fill it in four.

 

PRESS RELEASE: Federal Fightback Community Conversation in NEPA

By Press Statements

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 9, 2025

Contact: Kirstin Snow, Communications Director, snow@pennpolicy.org

 

RELEASE: Pennsylvania Policy Center, Pennsylvanians Together Campaign, Action Together NEPA, Labor, Partners Hold Community Conversation: Healthcare, Tax Changes, & Impacts on PA Working Families

Luzerne County, PALast evening, the Pennsylvania Policy Center, the statewide affiliate of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, and its action arm, Pennsylvanians Together, in partnership with Action Together NEPA, held a Community Conversation at the UFCW 1776 Union Hall in Jenkins Township, PA.

The event focused on the proposed federal cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, and other critical programs that could be addressed in the federal reconciliation bill as soon as this month. These cuts pose a serious threat to Pennsylvania and our state budget potentially creating a multi-billion dollar shortfall and jeopardizing priorities like public education. Discussions in Washington about extending and expanding the 2017 tax cuts only heightens these threats for working families in Pennsylvania.

The event was open to everyone and included a real conversation about policy proposals that could harm Pennsylvanians, and what we can do about them.

WHO:

The event featured the following speakers and organizations:

 

  • Marc Stier, Pennsylvania Policy Center Executive Director
  • Jessica Britain, Communications Director, Action Together NEPA
  • Alisha Hoffman-Mirilovich, Executive Director, Action Together NEPA
  • Representative Jim Haddock, PA House District 118
  • John Kelly, Vice President, Bread Basket of NEPA
  • Amanda Gordineer, MS, RDN, Director of Food Equity, Food Dignity
  • Keshia Williams, SEIU Healthcare PA
  • Senator John Fetterman, in absentia, supporting quote below
  • Congressman Rob Bresnahan, in absentia, supporting quote below

CONVERSATION QUOTES:

 

Senator John Fetterman: “Pennsylvania families rely on programs like Medicaid and SNAP to make ends meet, put food on the table, and get the health care they need. No matter who is in the White House, I will fight to protect these programs for families and seniors. I’ve promised to jam up any legislation that cuts SNAP and I stand by that. We need to defend and expand these programs, not slash them to fund tax cuts for big corporations.”

 

Congressman Rob Bresnahan: “The federal government’s goal should always be to improve the lives of American citizens. Programs such as SNAP and Medicaid offer important assistance to those in need, ensuring all citizens have access to basic needs like food and healthcare. In my new role, I will see to it that these programs can continue to support millions of Americans nationwide.”

 

John Kelly, Bread Basket of NEPA: “With less support from SNAP, we anticipate a significant surge in demand for our services, potentially exceeding our current capacity, which we are very close to. This will require us to seek additional funding and put extra strain on our already overworked volunteers.”

 

Marc Stier, Pennsylvania Policy Center“Pennsylvanians face a double threat: First, tax cuts for the wealthy multi-national corporations and ultra-rich individuals. And, to pay for those tax cuts, we expect cuts to Medicaid, SNAP and other critical programs and tariffs that will raise taxes and increase the costs of goods for all of us. If these plans are adopted the vast majority of Pennsylvanians will suffer.”

 

Amanda Gordineer, Director of Food Equity, Food Dignity: “SNAP invests over $3.1B back into Pennsylvania farmers and local grocery stores every year. Budget cuts to SNAP are a serious threat to our small food retailers. SNAP and Medicaid are vital lifelines to protect all of us if something unexpected happens like we lose our job, receive a serious health diagnosis, or get into an accident. These programs are investments in the health, well-being, and immediate economic stability of our community.”

 

Rep Jim Haddock: “Pennsylvania families shouldn’t have to choose between putting food on the table and accessing life-saving healthcare just so millionaires and wealthy corporations can get another tax break. These proposed cuts to Medicaid and SNAP are not only cruel but will devastate the most vulnerable members of our communities while widening the gap between the rich and the rest of us.”

 

Alisha Hoffman-Mirilovich, Executive Director of Action Together NEPA: “All across the country and right here in northeastern Pennsylvania, families are struggling to pay for their groceries and to find affordable access to healthcare. Proposals to cut Medicaid and SNAP would have a devastating impact on those families and our local communities. We’re having this urgent conversation to highlight that impact and fight for our friends and neighbors who rely on these critical programs.”

 

Keshia Williams, SEIU Healthcare PA: “Medicaid is not about policies, race, ethnicity, backgrounds, or political parties. It’s about people, it’s ensuring that everyone, regardless of their circumstances, has access to the care they need to stay healthy. Don’t take away our healthcare to give tax breaks to billionaires when we need to fight and protect and expand Medicaid. Pennsylvania needs CARE not CUTS.”

 

Pennsylvanians Together is a campaign working to ensure that all Pennsylvanians can thrive—not just survive. For too long, we’ve let politicians, who serve the interests of corporations, and the rich divide us based on what we look like, where we come from, where we worship, how much money we have or whether we are native-born or immigrants. By dividing us, they have given us public policies that do too little to help most Pennsylvanians while making the rich and corporations even wealthier.

###

The Barbarians Are at the Gate

By Blog Post

Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress are about to seek major cuts in Medicaid to pay for deep cuts to the taxes of the ultra-rich and wealthy corporations.

We often talk, with pride, about our American civilization as a high mark of the West. Yet what makes for civilization?

Human history is full of great and powerful kingdoms and empires led by, and mostly serving the good of, kings, emperors, and monarchs. They weren’t civilized by our standards. The aim of most of those grandees was not to help those they ruled but to take from them to enrich and elevate themselves.

What makes the United States different and truly civilized is that we have attempted to create a government by and for the people, one in which the powerful are constrained by the people to serve the people. And that means everyone, including those who are, in the words of Matthew 25:40, “the least of these brothers and sisters.”

By that standard, one of our most important achievements as a civilization was the creation of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965.

Ensuring everyone could afford health care meant little when doctors and hospitals couldn’t do much. But once the development of greater medical knowledge, techniques, and pharmaceuticals—much of it paid for by the federal government—gave medical care the power to save and extend lives, we recognized that it must be provided to all, not just those who could afford it. Health care is a right—not a privilege.

Medicaid was initially a small program designed to take a small share of our national income to serve those with very low incomes. It was expanded over time to cover a broad spectrum of the American public. And then it was expanded dramatically by the Affordable Care Act, which doubled the number of adults covered by the program by raising the eligibility level from 100% to 138% of the federal poverty level.

Now, more than any other government program, Medicaid helps people who are in trouble, who are suffering, who are in despair, and who desperately need the support of their fellow citizens. Few people receive Medicaid benefits for more than a few years of their lives. But almost two-thirds of Americans will, at one time or another, benefit from it.

In Pennsylvania, Medicaid provides health care for more than two million adults each year. It covers nearly half of all children in our state (1.4 million) and is not only the leading funder of birth control but also pays for more than 40 percent of births.

It is the largest funder of long-term care services for seniors in assisted living residences and nursing homes, covering more than 400,000 people.

It’s the largest funder of mental health services, serving 1.4 million, including 307,000 who need treatment for substance use disorder.

And Medicaid helps everyone indirectly. Few community hospitals in both rural and urban areas could survive without it. And in many states, including Pennsylvania, it partly funds school nurses for all.

While doing all this is costly—the total federal and state cost is $607 billion—it is still only a 2.2% share of our $27 trillion dollar economy. The federal government pays the largest share. In Pennsylvania, Medicaid costs $48 billion of which $31 billion comes from the federal government.

Yet despite the immense benefit of Medicaid, President-Elect Trump and the Republicans in Congress plan major reductions in the program. How much we don’t yet know. But even modest reductions could cost the state $4-$5 billion per year. We hope Pennsylvania and other states would make up for some cutbacks. But no state is capable of making up the whole difference. The result would be a sharp reduction in eligibility and coverage of the program.

Why do Trump and the Republicans want to cut Medicaid? Not because it is inefficient—Medicaid is beyond question the most efficient health insurance in America.

The reason is to pay for an extension and expansion of the Trump tax cuts of 2017, which went disproportionately to ultra-rich Americans and wealthy corporations.

The bottom 20% of families received a tax cut of $70 on average. The middle 20%, $910. But the top 1% received $61,090, on average, and the top .1% received an average cut of $252,300.

And our economy did not benefit much from the 2017 tax cuts. Investment barely increased. Economic and job growth did not grow faster. On average, workers’ wages went up less than $100. The tax cuts most certainly did not pay for themselves but instead led to a loss of revenues on the order of $250 billion per year.

The Trump / GOP tax plan is designed to take a big chunk of that small share of national income that goes to Medicaid and use it to reward the richest and most powerful people in our society. Doing that would undermine the federal program that relieves the most suffering, that helps the most people, and that is our boldest step in creating a civilized society.

The barbarians are at the gates. Medicaid is under attack by wealthy marauders who, if we let them, will enrich themselves by taking from the least among us and undermine our civilization in the process.

Policy Pulse – December 2024

By Blog Post, Newsletter

Many of us are still in shock, or worse, after the election. But here at the Penn Policy Center we are getting ready to fight back against some of the Trump administration’s legislative initiatives.

We are deeply concerned about plans to cut federal funding for Medicaid and SNAP (formerly “food stamps”), in order to extend and expand the 2017 tax cuts, which mainly benefit the ultra-rich and wealthy corporations. Medicaid and SNAP cuts would hurt Pennsylvanians with low -incomes and , substance use problems, as well as seniors who rely on the program to pay for care in assisted living facilities or nursing homes. Hospitals in both rural and urban areas are threatened as well because they rely on Medicaid to cover part of the care they provide. And the state budget — which is already facing a deficit — is likely to suffer a devastating reduction in revenue due to cutbacks in the federal spending.

We will be in touch with all of you soon to give you more information about these issues and to tell you how you can join us in fighting back against the devastating policies we foresee coming out of Washington.


And the award goes to….

This year, City & State Pennsylvania held its annual Impact event. Impact honorees aren’t just making a difference — they’re creating novel ways to effect change in the commonwealth. On this year’s list of Pennsylvania’s premier changemakers are labor leaders and bankers bringing diversity to traditionally homogeneous fields, engineers thinking differently about sustainability and health professionals taking on some very modern challenges, from opioids to the behavioral health workforce. And more than one honoree draws on cultural inspiration to champion political power for previously underrepresented groups. From education to law, real estate to telecommunications, there’s inspiration aplenty in these bold thinkers — and more than a little impact. Our own Marc Stier was part of this prestigious group. See his mention, below!

Scholar and activist Marc Stier directs the Pennsylvania Policy Center, where he worked to create the State Revenue Alliance and the PA Tax Justice Campaign to advocate for fairer state and national tax systems. He also guides the PA Schools Work campaign, helping secure $1 billion in new state funding for K-12 education. Stier, a former professor of political philosophy, previously directed the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center and has led grassroots issues campaigns to raise the minimum wage and broaden health care access.”


Please join us TOMORROW for our last Policy Action Zoom of the year!

With the holidays upon us and a new year just around the corner, the PPC team is working closely with allies in PA and across the country to gear up for the fight against the Scrooges, Grinches, and neofascists and their Project 2025 agenda to destroy America. While we recognize that they will undoubtedly advance as many of their pro-billionaire-anti-worker policies as they can in the years ahead — cutting benefits for kids and seniors, giving undeserved handouts to billionaires and greedy corporations, and trampling our fundamental rights — it will not be without a fight. Make no mistake: the Trump-GOP agenda will unleash devastation on Pennsylvania. And it WILL fail. Abysmally. And we invite you to join us in doing EVERYTHING we can to make it as difficult as possible for the Trumpers and their ilk to dump their garbage on us. Join us on Zoom at 1 PM on Thursday, December 19, for our monthly Policy Action to learn about Trump’s Project 2025 and how you can help defeat it! https://bit.ly/PolicyAction12-19.


Notable/Quotable: Castin Stone, Policy Analyst  

“Whether they’re hidden in web archives or plain sight, I have found that the most impactful data can also be the most obscure. Transforming information from spreadsheets, text documents, and PDFs into usable insights accessible to anyone is my favorite part of being a policy analyst. Data is one element that has united every topic I’ve worked on, from analyses of Costa Rican soil’s potential to sequester greenhouse gasses to breakdowns of Pennsylvania’s education funding system. While at work I analyze patterns, in my free time I create them; I spin poi, choreograph, and put together multimedia collages. I believe that understanding the patterns of power is the key to transforming small pushes into history changing results.”


Get to Know… Adrienne Standley, Deputy Design and Digital Director

Hi, all! I’m PPC’s deputy design and digital director, which has me working on various projects across the organization, including social media graphics and ad campaigns, persuasive writing, and virtual events.

I initially came into this work through volunteer advocacy on healthcare issues, and I’m an aspiring policy nerd with a particular interest in drug policy and harm reduction. I’m also a community organizer, and in 2017 I helped to co-found Philadelphia SOL Collective, a community organization for harm reduction education and supply distribution.

I have a fine art degree, and my career background has been a bit winding, but I think doing years in the trenches working retail and customer service really prepared me for….well…a LOT. If I can handle screaming customers on Black Friday, or a drive-thru line down the block in the summer with no AC, I can handle Harrisburg politicians

When not at work, you can find me sitting outside at a bar with heat lamps, attending a local drag show, making harm reduction kits to distribute, or at my neighborhood’s monthly free market.


Won’t You Join Us?

 

At Pennsylvania Policy Center, we are working for a brighter future for all Pennsylvanians: we work to ensure that policies crafted in Harrisburg promote fairness, transparency, and opportunity for families, workers, and communities across the Commonwealth. We are also the proud state affiliate of the nationally recognized Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBBP).

In 2024, we:

  • partnered with the PA Schools Work campaign, to add $1 BILLION unprecedented funding for historically underserved schools;
  • organized and took a cohort of over 20 citizens and activists from across the commonwealth to Washington DC to demand tax justice from our congressional representatives
  • released new reports on the economic contributions of immigrants in PA and across the country
  • held a budget summit at the state capitol with our partners and hundreds of activists to demand a budget that works for ALL Pennsylvanians- not just the wealthy and corporations

2025 will be a CRITICAL year for policies at the state level because we anticipate many challenges federal level. We are preparing to meet those next challenges and we need you now.

We can’t do this alone. We need your help! This year we will:

  • take up the fight to protect Medicaid and work to keep federal protections with grassroots organizations across PA.
  • continue our tax justice work by taking Mr. Riggs, our 12-foot inflatable “fat cat” around PA to demand the ultra-rich and corporations pay their fair share.
  • protect the billions in school funding so our kids get the K-12 public education they deserve.

By donating just $25, $50, or $100 today, you can help us continue our work to create a Pennsylvania where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.


As the year closes, we thank you for believing in the power of informed, principled advocacy. Together, we can build a stronger and fairer Pennsylvania.

With gratitude and until next year,

Marc Stier, Executive Director, Pennsylvania Policy Center and the Pennsylvania Policy Center Team of Adrienne, Castin, Dwayne, Erica, Jeff, Levana, and Kirstin