Better Choices for Pennsylvania | A coalition for a responsible budget

Sign-On Letter to the State Senate

Please join us in sending a clear message to the state Senate: we need to reinvest in schools, health care, and human services -- we cannot afford new tax cuts this year.

Click here to add your name and your organization's name to a diverse and growing group of signers from across the state. (Please only sign if you are authorized to add your organization's name to this effort.)

Thank you for all you do to advocate for a state budget that promotes opportunity across Pennsylvania's diverse communities.

Prioritize Schools and Communities Over New State Tax Cuts, Local Officials Urge Harrisburg

Watch a Video of the Press Conference

Local officials from across Pennsylvania came to Harrisburg today with a message for state lawmakers: prioritize investments in our schools, county health services, and infrastructure over new tax cuts.

Years of state tax cuts have shifted more costs onto local communities and taxpayers. The local officials urged lawmakers to delay a planned cut next year to a corporate tax that has already been reduced by 85 percent in order to restore funding to the services that people and businesses rely on everyday.

“Budgets are about priorities, and it is time for Harrisburg to put its priorities into what counts: schools, roads, safe and healthy communities – so that we can move our state forward,” said Allegheny County Controller Chelsa Wagner. “While I certainly recognize the need for balancing budgets, budgets should not be balanced on the backs of our students, working families and the elderly.”

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Better Choices Call-In Days June 3 and 4

On Monday and Tuesday, June 3rd and 4th, join a call-in day with Better Choices for PA Coalition members from across the state. As legislators return to Harrisburg for the final weeks of the budget debate, remind your representative that now is not the time to cut taxes, when we badly need to restore funding to our schools, health care, and human services.

Click here for more details on the call-in day to the PA House.

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2013-14 State Budget Resources

Talking Points on Governor Corbett's Tax Cut Proposal

Governor Corbett's tax cut proposal will cost the state more than $700 million when fully phased in. It cuts the corporate net income tax by thirty percent, jeopardizing funding for schools, health care, and other investments critical to Pennsylvania's long-term economic competitiveness.

View talking points on Governor Corbett's tax cut proposal.

A Detailed Analysis of Governor Corbett's Tax Cut Proposal

The Governor's tax cut proposal was incorporated into HB 440 (Reed), which will be considered for final passage in early May. The Reed plan also includes language to close the Delaware loophole, but it is so weak that most corporations will be able to circumvent it. It continues to be extremely costly: more than $700 million annually when fully phased in, eroding the state's ability to educate our children, provide health care for the sick and supports for people with special needs, and shore up public infrastructure.

View an analysis of the current tax cut proposal.

Governor Corbett's Proposed 2013-14 Budget

Governor Tom Corbett proposed a 2013-14 budget of $28.4 billion — up $400 million, or 1%, from the budget in place when he took office in January 2011. The budget proposes expensive new corporate tax breaks that will continue to shift costs to individuals and local taxpayers, while failing to restore deep cuts to public schools, keep college affordable for middle-class students, or ensure working families can obtain basic health care.

View a Detailed Analysis of Budget Plan

Find More State Budget Resources

Recent Media

Corbett's proposed business tax cuts will shrink state budget pie, coalition says

Lawmakers were treated to a half of a pie today as a symbolic gesture from a statewide coalition over the proposed business tax cuts that would shrink the size of the state budget pie that funds education and human services.

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Midyear Budget Briefing: Costly Tax Breaks Drive Budget Gap

Midway through the budget year, Pennsylvania Budget Secretary Charles Zogby estimated that the state will end the year with a $491 million deficit. According to an analysis by the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center, the bulk of that revenue gap was caused by two years of unaffordable tax breaks, which cost the state $372 million.

Analysis and Infographic: How Costly Tax Breaks Drive the State's Funding Gap.

State Budget Resources: View many more budget resources

Coalition Resources

Coalition Priorities

Budget Talking Points

Join the Coalition

Do you believe the Legislature should invest in a competitiveness agenda, adequately funding our schools, roads, hospitals, and other critical public infrastructure? Are you concerned about an economic development strategy that leans too heavily on costly, poorly targeted tax breaks that do little to create jobs?

Join the Better Choices Coalition Today!