NEW FROM PBPC

NFIB Exaggerates Impact of Tax Changes on Small Businesses

July 2, 2009

The NFIB of Pennsylvania circulated a spreadsheet this week purporting to show the impact of the Governor's tax proposal on small businesses in Pennsylvania. PBPC sheds some light on the misleading claims.

Revenue Tracker: State Ends Fiscal Year With $3.25 Billion Deficit

July 2, 2009

Pennsylvania ended the 2008-09 Fiscal Year 11% short of estimated collections. General fund collections in 2008-09 totaled $25.5 billion, the lowest total collections since 2005-06.

70% of Marcellus Shale Wells Don't Pay Corporate Net Income Tax

June 29, 2009

Critics of enacting a natural gas severance tax say drillers in Pennsylvania already “face the highest corporate tax rate in the nation,” but a closer look at the evidence shows that this is not the case for most companies.

Groups Call for General Assembly to Include Revenue Measures in Budget Response

June 16, 2009

PBPC was one of 56 signers to a letter urging the Legislature to reject harsh budget cuts and invest in Pennsylvania's future.

Severance Tax Will Protect Taxpayers

PBPC spent several months reviewing the impact of mineral resource production in states across the country and analyzing other states' tax policies on the resource extraction industry. The result is "Responsible Growth: Protecting the Public Interest with a Natural Gas Severance Tax." The report recommends that Pennsylvania adopt a well-structured severance tax on natural gas production to protect Pennsylvania taxpayers from shouldering the environmental and other public costs that come with increased driling. Learn more.

A Roadmap to State & Local Tax Policies

Public investments make a difference in the lives of Pennsylvanians, but few really understand the esoteric world of state and local taxes. PBPC wants to change that with a new publication called The Common Good: What Pennsylvania's Budget and Tax Policies Mean to You.

The easy-to-read handbook explains Pennsylvania's state and local tax structures and how Pennsylvania's budget is put together. It challenges myths about Pennsylvania's tax burden and spending levels by comparing state spending and taxes to those in other states and examining how Pennsylvania spending and tax levels have changed over time. Click here to learn more.

Just the Facts, Please

Pennsylvania’s budget funds critical public services that keep our communities safe, educate our children, help our economy to grow, and provide health care for the poor and disabled. When Pennsylvanians pay state taxes, those dollars are largely returned to local communities — to school districts, municipalities, hospitals, libraries, and museums.

Learn more about state budget and tax policies with PBPC's Just the Facts on Pennsylvania Spending, Pennsylvania Taxes, Tax Fairness and Pennsylvania Debt.

2008-09 Revenue Tracker

The Growing Fiscal
Impact of
the Recession

PA's Revenue Shortfall
as of June 2009

-$3,254,565,000

30 Ways in 30 Days

Day 30: The Hospital and HealthSystem Association of Pennsylvania recently estimated that a proposed Medicaid cut in a Senate-passed budget bill would cost 13,000 hospital jobs across the state.

Budget Season 2009-10

Read PBPC's Analysis of the Senate Budget Proposal.

Analysis of 2009-10 Pennsylvania State Budget

The budget proposed by Governor Ed Rendell for the 2009-10 fiscal year manages to avoid the deep budget cuts that many observers feared just a few weeks ago, and that many states imposed in 2009.