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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 Banks. https://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 event, click 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

January 17, 2025

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

December 18, 2024

Policy Pulse – November 2024

By Blog Post, Newsletter
November 21, 2024

The Penn Policy Pulse — October 2024

By Blog Post, Newsletter

Welcome to the inaugural edition of Pennsylvania Policy Center’s POLICY PULSE newsletter—we’re glad you’re here! As if this year isn’t busy enough with the approaching election, we’ve been hard at work behind the scenes helping to move forward progressive policies that work for all Pennsylvanians. Check out our work below, and stay tuned for the November edition, where we’ll do an election recap!

PPC had some big wins this year… Thanks in part to your support, we have blossomed into a team of eight people who punch far above our weight in Pennsylvania and national progressive politics. We are unique in that we combine sophisticated policy analysis, leading edge communications—and together with our partners in the Pennsylvanians Together (PAT) and PA Schools Work (PASW) campaigns, which we help lead—effective advocacy and organizing.

Together with our partners, we have had a dramatic impact on politics and policy in our state. Most importantly, we played a leading role in building support among political leaders and the public for taking a huge step forward in meeting our constitutional and moral requirement to fully and fairly fund our K–12 schools. For the first time ever, a majority of new K–12 funding went to historically underfunded schools.

Our priority for this year is ensuring that everyone is paying their fair share… PPC is taking the lead with our new federal–state Tax Justice campaign! Asking highly profitable corporations and billionaires to pay their fair share of taxes is critical to creating opportunity for all by raising the revenue necessary to support more funding for education at all levels, as well as affordable child care, health care, and housing. This campaign is taking off nationwide and if you have not yet seen our 12-foot, inflatable mascot Mr. Riggs, you will likely see him soon at an event near you. Sign our petition for tax justice!

Get to know the Pennsylvanians Together campaign! We saw the first fruits of our long years of policy and advocacy work and training of both legislators and advocates (through our Budget 101 events) to change the political narrative in Pennsylvania in support of economic justice. The Democrat-controlled House passed policy proposals we helped design, and our advocacy campaign, Pennsylvanians Together, long supported, including

  • an expansion of the property tax and rent rebate program for seniors.
  • a state child and dependent care tax credit.
  • new funding for county election boards.
  • an increase in the minimum wage.
  • a state earned income tax credit for working families.
  • an increase in the Whole-Home Repairs program.
  • safety protections for public sector workers.
  • an abortion shield law to protect women coming to Pennsylvania for reproductive health care.

We hope you’ll consider supporting this critical work by making a contribution today.

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO CONTRIBUTE.

PPC in the News!

Opinion: What would a second Trump term mean for our taxes? by Marc Stier, PPC Executive Director

Be sure to read our newest blog posts!

Infographic of the Month — Presidential Candidate Tax Plans!

 

Notable/Quotable

“If eliminating taxes for billionaires and powerful corporations benefited ALL of us, Pennsylvanians would be reaping the record-breaking productivity and unprecedented profits from five decades of “trickle-down”/supply-side economics. But a half century of rewarding greed and exploiting working people has demonstrated that the policy only makes the super-rich wealthier and keeps workers poor and desperate. We don’t have to accept this as “the way it is.” Virtually every other nation has figured out a way to make the super-rich pay the same tax rate as working families. It’s not that hard. There are less than two dozen billionaires in Pennsylvania. We know who they are. We know where they keep their money.” – Jeff Garis, Outreach and Partnerships Director, PPC

We’d be grateful if you would join us in our work by supporting the policy analysis, advocacy, and organizing work that can make a difference for generations to come.

Would you commit to a monthly contribution to sustain our work?

TO CONTRIBUTE, CLICK HERE.

The entire team at the Pennsylvania Policy Center sincerely appreciates your support. And thank you so much for your time. Now, GET OUT THERE AND VOTE!

–Marc Stier, Executive Director, Pennsylvania Policy Center; and the entire PPC team: Adrienne, Castin, Dwayne, Erica, Jeff, Kirstin, and Levana.

 

 

October 25, 2024