PBPC Podcast

PBPC Director Marc Stier joins the podcast to talk about his recent report about corporate tax breaks in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania now loses $4.2 billion annually due to massive corporate tax cuts since 2002. You can read the report here: http://bit.ly/2UeCd36

Jim Doyle, President of the Business Forward Foundation, joins us to talk to us about a new report entitled “Answering America: The Business Case Against Trump’s Agenda.” You can find the new report here: http://bit.ly/2KdNL0U And learn more about the Business Forward Foundation here: https://www.businessfwd.org/

PBPC Director Marc Stier joins the podcast to walk through his recently-released comprehensive analysis of the PA budget passed by the General Assembly at the end of June. You can read the full budget analysis, co-authored by Stier and PBPC Policy Analyst Diana Polson here: http://bit.ly/2kvyVZV

Steve Catanese, President of SEIU Local 668, joins the podcast to talk about various Trump Administration proposed rule changes that would affect many social safety net programs that help Pennsylvania families get back on their feet. Steve also discusses how members of the public can voice their opinion on these proposed rules—and why doing so is so important. TO SEND PUBLIC COMMENT: - Comment on SNAP regulation concerning eligibility: https://www.regulations.gov/comment?D=FNS-2018-0037-0001 - The comment periods are closed for the other two proposed rules discussed, but members of the public can email comments about Wagner-Peyser to: ETAPagemaster@dol.gov and comments about the poverty threshold to the White House's contact page: https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/ as Mick Mulvaney is both the head of OMB and Trump's CoS.

Kadida Kenner, Director of Campaigns for the PA Budget and Policy Center, talks about the May 23 statewide day of action on raising the minimum wage and where the minimum wage debate goes from here. See the page to write to your legislator about raising the minimum wage here: http://bit.ly/2HUUs8j See information about the June 4 budget day of action in Harrisburg here: http://bit.ly/2W2mTsp

PBPC Director Marc Stier talks about the possibility of a minimum wage increase in Pennsylvania this year for the first time in a decade and why that conversation is tied to budget negotiations. Tell your legislators it's time to raise the minimum wage here: http://bit.ly/2HUUs8j "Pizza and the Minimum Wage" by Marc Stier: http://bit.ly/2V2qCAM

PBPC Director Marc Stier joins us to talk about Governor Tom Wolf's budget proposal following his budget address last week. More info from PBPC about the budget here: http://bit.ly/2TQW9pQ Follow the We The People - PA campaign here: www.wethepeoplepa.org

As of January 1, 2019, 20 U.S. states raised their minimum wages, lifting pay for 5.3 million workers across the country. Pennsylvania did not. Mark Price, Labor Economist for the Keystone Research Center, joins us to debunk the most common myths about the minimum wage. More info at: www.keystoneresearch.org.

Marc Stier, PBPC Director and the chair of the We The People - PA campaign, joins the podcast to talk about what the We The People campaign has been doing both right before and right after the election a couple weeks ago – and he helps us look ahead to the 2019 legislative session. Visit the We The People - PA website here: http://wethepeoplepa.org/ Visit the We The People - PA Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/WeThePeoplePA/

Marc Stier, Director of the PA Budget and Policy Center, joins the podcast to talk about the We The People - Pennsylvania campaign and its proactive policy agenda. Learn more about WTP here: http://bit.ly/2Con4os *The event Marc mentions was put on by We The People - Pennsylvania Action. Watch a video of the event here: http://bit.ly/2OfuzDc

PBPC Director Marc Stier joins the podcast to talk about a tax plan for Pennsylvania released this week by the PA Chamber of Business and Industry. See the PA Chamber plan here: http://bit.ly/2McD4to See Marc's response here: http://bit.ly/2NjDDWR See more about the Fair Share Tax Plan here: http://bit.ly/2sUX9uT See more about closing the DE loophole here: http://bit.ly/2CGajpM See more about instituting a shale tax in PA here: http://bit.ly/2s1xzV9

Bob Engel, retired CEO of CoBank and chief spokesperson of the Free & Fair Markets Initiative(FFMI) joins us to talk about a specific concern of FFMI, which is a company in the news fairly often recently in both Philadelphia and Pittsburgh – Amazon. More about FFMI here: https://freeandfairmarketsinitiative.org/

Stephen Herzenberg, Executive Director of the Keystone Research Center, joins us to talk about a proposal from the Wolf Administration to increase the overtime threshold for middle-income, salaried workers in Pennsylvania. Read Stephen's policy brief about the proposal here: http://bit.ly/2nSWCtg

Adrienne Standley, Deputy Outreach and Engagement Director for PBPC, joins the podcast to give us an update on the We The People - Pennsylvania campaign. Adrienne has been meeting with community groups across the state to talk about the campaign's proactive policy agenda, and she tells us about how she's hearing many of the same concerns regardless of where she goes. More about the campaign here: www.wethepeoplepa.org. Contact Adrienne at adrienne@wethepeoplepa.org.

Kadida Kenner, Campaign Director for PBPC focused on the Why Courts Matter - PA coalition, joins the podcast to talk about Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and the importance of the federal courts. Stay up to date with Why Courts Matter - PA on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/WhyCourtsMatterPA/) and Twitter (@courtsmatterpa).

The PA General Assembly just passed what is called the general appropriations bill and sent it to Governor Wolf. Jeff Garis, Outreach and Engagement Director for the PA Budget and Policy Center, joins us to talk about the state of the 2018-19 Pennsylvania budget. Read PBPC's statement on the GA bill here: http://bit.ly/2tjYGgU

PBPC Director Marc Stier joins us for part II of a conversation about a series of redistricting reform bills being considered in the General Assembly, including SB22, a bill to create an independent redistricting commission that was, in essence, hijacked in the state Senate this week. An amendment brought forward by Senator Aument (R-Lancaster) would add judicial districts for state appellate courts to the constitutional amendment, opening up the opportunity for the General Assembly to gerrymander these new judicial district maps. Listen to part I of the podcast here: http://bit.ly/2JHPcW7 Take action on SB 22, as mentioned in the podcast, here: http://bit.ly/2HUka8B

PBPC Director Marc Stier joins the podcast to talk about a series of redistricting bills going through the state legislature right now, one of which (SB22) is moving quickly through the state Senate. Take action on SB22 and tell your state senator to vote "no" on it in its current form here: http://bit.ly/2LU0nJI

PBPC Director Marc Stier joins the podcast to talk about the upcoming launch of the We the People - Pennsylvania campaign and the pro-active policy agenda attached to that campaign that PBPC and other partners are taking around the state in 2018 and beyond. The campaign launches on May 17.

Kadida Kenner, Campaign Director for the Why Courts Matter - PA coalition — a project of the PBPC — joins the podcast to talk about federal court nominees — specifically the recently-announced nomination of Pittsburgh attorney David Porter to the 3rd circuit court of appeals. Follow WCM-PA on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/WhyCourtsMatterPA/ See the Porter petition page here: http://bit.ly/2JeXL79

PBPC Director Marc Stier joins the podcast to talk about a two bills moving through the Pennsylvania state legislature that would add pretty onerous work requirements for Pennsylvanians receiving health insurance through Medicaid and those who receive food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. View the action page on this issue here: http://bit.ly/2h2NCkD

Education Voters of Pennsylvania Executive Director Susan Spicka explains education savings accounts (ESAs) and PA SB2, a bill that would drain millions of dollars from public schools and funnel that money to private and religious schools across the state. You can learn more about these ESA vouchers here: http://www.paopposedtovouchers.org/

PBPC Director Marc Stier walks through the Pennsylvania budget, explaining the process by which it is passed, what each section of the budget is for, and the current state of revenue versus what the state is required to spend on different programs and departments. You can follow along with the visuals Marc references here: http://bit.ly/2uyIdbH

PBPC Policy Analyst Diana Polson and PBPC Director Marc Stier detail their comprehensive analysis of Governor Tom Wolf's 2018-19 budget proposal. Audio is taken from a recent webinar about their report. Follow along with the presentation with the PowerPoint slides here: http://bit.ly/PBPCBudgetPPT Read the full report here: http://bit.ly/2pjhfPA

PBPC Director Marc Stier joins us to talk about the DACA program (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), why Congress hasn't been able to find a fix, and how the data shows that undocumented immigrants are the opposite of a drag on the economy. Marc references a study by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine about the impact of immigrants on economic growth -- see more here: http://bit.ly/2F8yNW0

PBPC Director Marc Stier joins us to share his reactions to Governor Tom Wolf's budget address and the proposed budget for 2018-19. For more info, follow PBPC on Twitter (@PBPC) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/PennBPC/) or visit our budget analysis page on our website here: http://bit.ly/2FU62vt

PBPC Director Marc Stier joins us to preview Governor Wolf's 2018-19 budget address. Follow PBPC on Twitter (@PBPC) and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/PennBPC/) for budget address analysis.

Claudia Lukert, Chief of Staff and Counsel for SEIU Local 668, and Steve Catanese, President of SEIU Local 668, join us to talk about the Janus v. AFSCME Supreme Court case and what the decision will mean for public-sector unions. Maria Delgado, Chair of the SEIU Local 668 Statewide County Assistance Office (CAO) Rank and File Committee talks to us about what the union means to members and why the decision will be so important to their ability to serve members of the public.

Kadida Kenner, Campaign Manager for PBPC focused on the Why Courts Matter - PA project, joins us to talk about the federal courts, vacancies in Pennsylvania, troubling Trump nominations to the federal bench, important Supreme Court cases coming up, and more.

Mark Price, Labor Economist for the Keystone Research Center, joins us to talk about his new report on the minimum wage in Pennsylvania and how workers in the Keystone State are falling behind counterparts in surrounding states because the state has not increased the minimum wage in almost a decade. His report can be found here: http://bit.ly/2EDXLw1

Marc Stier, Director of the PA Budget and Policy Center, joins us to talk about the GOP push for a federal tax cut bill and the implications for Pennsylvanians.

Marc Stier, Director of the PA Budget and Policy Center, joins us to talk about the Pennsylvania state budget, which is done (but not really done) and the shale tax. Take action by urging your state representative to support a vote in support of a shale tax here: http://bit.ly/2lJDKyB

Marc Stier, Director of the PA Budget and Policy Center, joins us for a Pennsylvania budget update — that’s right, it’s September and we’re still talking about a budget that was supposed to be complete on June 30. Marc walks us through the frantic last few weeks, and explains how constituents can engage their lawmakers to push them to get this budget done.

Mark Price, Labor Economist for the Keystone Research Center, joins us to talk about this week's release of KRC’s annual State of Working Pennsylvania report. The key takeaway? Pennsylvania lawmakers are not doing enough to ensure low-to-middle income families are sharing in the spoils of a growing economy. Read the report here: http://bit.ly/2vMDoXw

Marc Stier, Director of the PA Budget and Policy Center, joins us to give an update on the state budget, including the (false) claim that state spending is out of control. After listening, read this blog post for more info: http://bit.ly/2wv3qDm

Stephen Herzenberg, Director of the Keystone Research Center, joins us to talk about the new report put out jointly between the Keystone Research Center and the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center. The report, "Pennsylvania Higher Education at a Crossroads," lays out the case for more state investment in higher education by explaining how demographic challenges and a lack of funding for Pennsylvania’s public four-year colleges are coming together to create an existential crisis for public higher education in the state. Read the report here: http://bit.ly/2uPV6hj

Kadida Kenner, Campaign Manager for PBPC working specifically on the Why Courts Matter - PA campaign, joins us to talk about the importance of understanding how the federal courts affect us all and the issues we care about. For more, like WCM-PA on Facebook: http://bit.ly/2vmpTlm And visit the WCM-PA website: www.whycourtsmatterpa.org

Jeff Garis, Outreach and Engagement Director for the PA Budget and Policy Center, joins the podcast to talk about the (very late) PA budget, the bipartisan revenue package passed out of the Senate this week, and why he doesn’t see much desperation from Speaker Mike Turzai to finish the budget. Sign up for PA budget updates at www.PAChoice.org.

PA Budget and Policy Center Director Marc Stier joins the podcast to talk about the Pennsylvania state budget, which is now two weeks late. Marc talks about the sticking points that remain on revenue sources for a final budget, and why we might be looking at another extended impasse. Here is the action page mentioned on the podcast to tell your state representatives to support a tax on natural gas drillers: http://bit.ly/2umEVHx

Marc Stier, Director of the PA Budget and Policy Center, joins the podcast to talk about the Senate health care bill, how it would affect Pennsylvanians, what it would mean for the millions of people in America who rely on Medicaid, and why GOP Senators aren't telling you the truth about it.

Marc Stier, Director of the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center, talks about the spending deal reached between the state legislature and Governor Wolf and how the legislature is preparing to use more irresponsible tactics to pay for it.

Marc Stier, Director of the PA Budget and Policy Center, joins us to talk health care again. The U.S. Senate is secretly, quietly crafting their version of an ACA replacement bill, and Marc gives us the latest on those dealings and what it could mean for Pennsylvania.

A playback of a PBPC tele-town hall from this week about the budget and the upcoming Budget Day of Action in Harrisburg on Monday, June 5. Hundreds of folks listened in to the tele-town hall, and PBPC Director Marc Stier took a number of questions from the audience. For more on the Budget Day of Action, visit: www.PAChoice.org/BudgetAction

Marc Stier, Director of the PA Budget and Policy Center, joins us to talk about the CBO’s scoring of Trumpcare and the recent report that Senator Pat Toomey is taking the lead on negotiations in the Senate to make the bill even worse for Americans who rely on Medicaid.

Susan Spicka, Executive Director of Education Voters of Pennsylvania, joins us to talk about next week's joint PA House / PA Senate hearing on Education Savings Accounts and what the program would mean for public education in Pennsylvania. More about Education Voters of Pennsylvania here: www.http://educationvoterspa.org/

Marc Stier, Director of the PA Budget and Policy Center, joins the podcast to give us an update about state budget negotiations and what PBPC and other partners are doing in the next few months to advocate for a budget that puts people first. Get more info about budget actions across Pennsylvania here: www.PAChoice.org/BudgetAction

Marc Stier, Director of the PA Budget and Policy Center, joins us to talk about the U.S. House passing Trumpcare and what it means for the health care debate moving forward.

Mark Price, Labor Economist for the Keystone Research Center, joins us to talk about his new report, released jointly with the PA Budget and Policy Center, about institutions of higher education promoting economic mobility for Pennsylvania students – most specifically the schools that are part of the PA State System of higher Education. Find the new report here: http://bit.ly/2onZP6y

Marc Stier, Director of the PA Budget and Policy Center, joins us to talk about the latest version of the House Republican health care plan, a bill that we expect to see introduced as early as next Wednesday. Marc breaks down the reported changes, which actually make affordable health insurance LESS attainable for the most vulnerable Americans.

Mark Price, Labor Economist at the Keystone Research Center, joins the podcast to talk about his report that provides the first estimates of the impact of property tax elimination proposals on families in Pennsylvania (HB/SB 76). The short of it? Property tax elimination would increase taxes by $334 per family per year on average. Read the full report here: http://bit.ly/2o78B7r

Stephen Herzenberg, Executive Director of the Keystone Research Center, talks about retirement security and how Congress is attempting to block two Obama Administration Department of Labor rules that made it easier for states and cities to set up retirement savings programs for private sector workers. Learn more: www.keystoneresearch.org