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Today is the PA Governor's Budget Address, which kicks off the 2021-22 budget season! We’ll be tweeting here during the address at 11 am. We then go live on FB at 2pm with our first response. Follow #PABudget for our updates and the all the conversation around this year’s budget!
Let's start w/some context for the #PABudget: Low- (below $20k) and middle-income (ave. income of $60k) Pennsylvanians pay a far higher share of their income in state and local taxes than the top 1% (ave. income $1.5 million).
It's not only rich people that don’t pay their fair share in taxes—neither do corporations. Corporate tax cuts cost the state $4 billion per year, and the share of General Fund revenues that comes from corporate taxes is half of what it was in 1972. #PABudget
#PABudget revenues and expenditures have been shrinking as a share of the PA economy, creating a #PublicInvestmentDeficit. PA needs a budget with more recurring revenue to invest in our communities.
What has suffered as the #PAbudget has shrunk? Among other things, investment in higher education. #Pennsylvania ranks third from the bottom in spending per capita.
Pennsylvania’s investment in higher education has shrunk year after year, making education more and more expensive for our state students. As a share of the state’s economy, #PABudget spending on higher education is only 38% of what it was in 1983-84.
As #PABudget spending on higher education has fallen, tuitions and fees have gone up and PA’s are now the third highest in the nation! PA economic statistics put us at the top in only one thing: #studentdebt!
What does the #PABudget spend your money on? Subsidizing horse racing and the millionaires (including foreign princes) who own them! Let’s invest in PA students by putting this money into Nelly Bly scholarships for higher education.
As spending on higher education has gone down, spending on prisons has gone up.
That’s not an accident.
Giving everyone an opportunity for a good education would reduce crime. We hope to see a #PABudget that invests in students, not prisons!
That’s not an accident.
Giving everyone an opportunity for a good education would reduce crime. We hope to see a #PABudget that invests in students, not prisons!
The #PABudget also spends too little on K-12 #education. We rank 44th in state funding, and we rely too much on local funding. And, we have the most unequally funded schools in the country—rich school districts spend 33% more per student than poor school districts. #edfunding
Because most state funding does not go through the fair funding formula, schools w/ a high share of students of color still receive far less funding per student than primarily white schools. #edfunding
The #PABudget should increase funding for our schools and run far more of it through the fair funding formula (while protecting school districts from losses) to ensure that every student gets the education they need, no matter their zip code.
The #PABudget also spends too little on infrastructure, leaving our roads and bridges in disrepair. We don’t have a graphic for this point, but how long would it take you to find a pothole and post it with the hashtag #PotholeTax?
Small businesses are still suffering from the #COVID19 pandemic. The #PABudget should be keeping them alive so they are able to reopen when COVID-19 is under control.
As of 12/31/2020, total small business revenue decreased by 26.1% compared to January 2020. Small businesses need help now. It’s time for the #PABudget to give them the support they need to get through this difficult time while keeping customers, employees, and communities safe.
The #PABudget in 2021 also needs to finally #RaiseTheWagePA for the first time in ten years! All of our surrounding states have done so. And they have faster economic growth and are creating more jobs as a result. #FightFor15 #MinimumWage
As the #MinimumWage increased the economy grew faster. Since the minimum wage has declined after inflation, the economy has been growing more slowly. A higher wage would enable people to buy more from local businesses. #PABudget #RaiseTheWagePA
When the minimum wage reaches $15 an hour, workers making less than $15 as well as those making above will benefit. Over a quarter of PA workers—more than 6 million people—will get a pay raise!
The #PABudget needs to #RaiseTheWagePA this year!
The #PABudget needs to #RaiseTheWagePA this year!
When the #PABudget raises the minimum wage to $15 an hour in 2027 working people will have over $6 billion more a year to spend in local economies. Working people and local businesses will both gain. #RaiseTheWage #RaiseTheWagePA
As the #MinimumWage has fallen (and labor unions have been undermined) the rich have gotten far richer, while incomes for the rest of us have stagnated. It’s time for the #PABudget to reverse this.
Income & wealth inequality have gotten worse during the pandemic. Working people are unemployed or working short hrs. Upper middle-class professionals are holding their own, but the very rich who own corporations are getting richer. PA gained 4 *new* billionaires during #COVID19
. @GovernorTomWolf's budget address will be starting soon, and we'll be sharing some initial reactions on here, as well as on Facebook Live at 2PM! We will also continue to post all of our analysis and info on the 2021-22 #PABudget on our website: https://krc-pbpc.org/issues/pa-budget-2021-2022/
