MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR
Build Back Better will help secure the middle class AND make our tax system fairer. Make sure to contact your member of Congress today to help make this plan a reality. See below to take action.
In Solidarity,
Stephen Herzenberg
Executive Director
BY KRC/PBPC
“Build Back Better” Bill Will Help Build and Secure the Middle Class
Young people are having a harder time entering the middle class, even if their parents were a part of it. More young adults than ever before (24.4%) were living with their parents during the height of the pandemic—a percentage that was even higher for young adults of color. Homeownership rates are at a historic low for young adults. Parents of young children are squeezed by the cost of child care, and then when their children get older, by the cost of college. Pennsylvanians of all ages feel the rising cost of health care and prescription drugs. As our population ages, costs related to aging, including home health care costs, remain a burden to many families.
The Build Back Better legislation currently being debated in Congress would help lower costs, cut taxes, and improve jobs—all of which hinder the middle class from becoming more stable and the working poor from entering the middle class. Passing Build Back Better would improve the lives of Pennsylvanians.
The “Build Back Better” Bill Would Make our Tax System Fairer: A Look at the Impact on Pennsylvania
The Build Back Better bill, which was recently approved by the House Ways and Means Committee, would make our tax system fairer by raising taxes on the top 5% of income earners in 2022 and cutting taxes for other income groups. It would raise $2.1 trillion over 10 years by raising individual income taxes on the rich and increasing corporate income taxes and taxes on tobacco and nicotine. The bill also includes significant tax cuts such as the expansion of the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). These tax credits would offset tax increases for the average taxpayer and not the richest 5% of income earners.
TAKE ACTION
Contact your member of Congress NOW about the Build Back Better agenda!
The intense negotiations happening in Congress right now will determine if we end up with a weak and watered-down version of President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda or one that truly invests in the needs facing us now and requires the rich and corporations to help pay for those investments by paying their fair share of taxes.
If your member of Congress is a Democrat, he or she is poised to support Build Back Better. Use THIS LINK to thank them!
If your member of Congress is a Republican, he or she is poised to oppose Build Back Better. Use THIS LINK to tell them that Pennsylvanians need them to support it.
Welcome to new staff!
Kehinde Akande and Eugene Henniger-Voss joined the KRC/PBPC staff over the summer. Welcome to both of them—we look forward to doing great things together!
PA Budget and Policy Center Policy Fellow – Kehinde Akande
During Kehinde’s undergraduate studies, she served as a legislative and budget intern for an elected official in the NYC government. She supported by producing legislative proposals and assisting with the discretionary budget process. Post undergraduate, Kehinde served as an AmeriCorps Vista and Public Allies member, where she served as a job counselor with Project Renewal. There she assisted marginalized communities in preparing for employment opportunities. She also obtained experience in the legal field as a paralegal intern, case filing specialist, legal intern, and her latest role as a paralegal aide for the NYC Law Department.
Kehinde is passionate about understanding community issues, collaborating with stakeholders, and seeking potential solutions through public policy. She looks forward to serving KRC/PBPC and Pennsylvanians at large.
.jpeg "Eugene Henninger-Voss")
Keystone Research Center Research Associate – Eugene Henninger-Voss