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ICYMI: PHILADELPHIA
WITH SO MUCH GOING ON IN THE NEWS, YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED SOME LOCAL STORIES THAT AFFECT OUR COMMUNITIES DIRECTLY. HERE, BROKE IN PHILLY BREAKS DOWN FIVE IMPORTANT STORIES FOR PHILADELPHIANS. READ MORE AT THE LINKS LISTED.
HELP WITH ENERGY BILLS FOR LOWER-INCOME PENNSYLVANIANS
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Full article by Alicia Victoria Lozano, NBC Philadelphia.
In a September 2019 3-2 vote, the Pennsylvania Utility Commission (PUC) voted to lower the financial burden for 2 million Pennsylvanians enrolled in Customer Assistance Programs throughout the state. Customer Assistance Programs, or CAP, provide monthly and long-term bill payment plans so people with limited financial means can maintain their utility service. Since 1992, PUC’s CAP policy meant lowincome customers getting assistance might spend up to 17% of their income on energy costs — with some families spending up to 20% of their income. People making 51% to 150% of the federal poverty income guideline would pay up to 10% on energy bills, while those making even less would pay only 6%, according to the PUC. The changes will go into effect by Jan. 1, 2021, according to the commission.
POVERTY INCREASING IN NORTHEAST PHILADELPHIA
Full story by Alfred Lubrano, Inquirer.com.
300,000 residents have seen poverty become a burgeoning and unwanted feature over the last generation as people age into fixed incomes, immigrants move in, and poor families leave gentrifying neighborhoods elsewhere in the city for more affordable environs. Some social scientists also point to the introduction of federal Section 8 housing vouchers in the mid-1990s, relocating low-income residents from North and West Philadelphia to the Northeast. An Inquirer analysis of U.S. Census figures shows how the number of those living in poverty in the Northeast has expanded — in some cases, by astonishing amounts — within 27 years. For a family of three, the federal poverty line is $21,330. PHILADELPHIA NOW ISSUES MUNICIPAL PHOTO ID CARDS
Learn more at GetPhlCityID.com.
Starting in April, Philadelphia began issuing municipal identification cards. The PHL City ID provides a secure and affordable photo identification card for anyone living in Philadelphia, age 13 and older. PHL city IDs cost $5 for teens and $10 for adults; individuals 65 and older can receive free IDs. The ID card helps people who have a hard time obtaining other forms of identification because of cost or other barriers. The PHL City ID displays the cardholder’s name, address, date of birth, and selfidentified gender. It assigns a unique identification number to each Philadelphian and displays an issue and expiration date on the card. Each cardholder may include emergency contact information or medical conditions for safety purposes, space permitting.
A $43 MILLION TAX BREAK FOR PHILADELPHIANS IN POVERTY
Article by Max Marin at BillyPenn.com.
Councilmember Allan Domb introduced legislation that he hopes will put more money back into the pockets of struggling Philadelphians. The bill proposes to give wage tax rebates from $360 to $1,700 to families living in poverty. Philadelphia’s wage tax is the highest of its kind in the nation — and the city leans on it for 44% of its annual revenue. The legislation would impact about 60,000 households who live below the poverty line in Philadelphia. Domb argues the city budget has boomed in recent years, and the city should not be tapping its poorest residents for tax dollars. Councilmembers Maria QuiñonesSánchez and Jannie Blackwell support the legislation. Others in Council said they need to take a deeper look at the numbers. The real hurdle will be whether Mayor Jim Kenney’s administration will sign off on letting go of that money from the tax rolls. Domb estimates the rebates would total $43 million a year. Workers below a certain income would still pay the city’s wage tax from their regular paychecks, but the city would send them a refund at the end of the tax year, and would vary based on income levels and the number of dependents you claim on your tax return. Applicants would have to apply. Domb argues the infrastructure is already in place for quick implementation. Qualifying workers already receive a wage tax reimbursement — Domb just wants to increase the amount. The wage tax sits at 3.88% for Philly residents and 3.45% for non-residents who work in the city. Right now, the city reimburses 0.5% from those deductions to some low-income taxpayers. Domb’s bill proposes bumping that reimbursement to 2.36% — with hopes to eventually bring it up to refunding the full levy.
Article by Larry Platt at ThePhiladelphiaCitizen.com.
The U.S. Census Bureau released its annual poverty data, stating Philadelphia’s 2018 poverty rate declined to 24.5%, down from 25.7% in 2016. This is the lowest our poverty rate has been since the recession hit in 2008. Last week’s report showed that Philadelphia’s poverty rate—an income of all of $21,000 for a family of three—was 24.5 percent, down from 25.7 percent two years prior, the lowest since 2008’s Great Recession. That meant that some 14,000 Philadelphians had been lifted out of poverty the last two years, most of them just barely. Our city remains the most impoverished in the nation, with the highest child poverty and deep poverty rates (people living at 50 percent of the poverty rate or below) among big cities. But why compare 2018 to 2016 data? Turns out, last week’s report included an
admission that last year’s data for Philadelphia had been flawed; 2016’s numbers are the last accurate ones we have. Which means we’ve only lifted some 7,000 Philadelphians above the poverty line per year these last two years; at this rate we’ll eradicate poverty by 2076, at the earliest. The 1.2% difference means that nearly 15,000 Philadelphians are no longer living below the poverty line. What’s more, our city’s median income rose to $46,116, up from $43,153 in 2016.
CENSUS ERROR WRECKS 2017 PHILLY DATA ON POVERTY, INCOME
Full story by Alfred Lubrano, Inquirer.com.
Last month, the U.S. Census Bureau explained that it identified a massive error in data it collected on Philadelphia’s populace in 2017, including aspects of poverty, income, employment, health insurance, rent, and more. The bureau now has issued a statement on how we should regard all those 2017 statistics and numbers in its American Community Survey (ACS) document released in September 2018. In 2017 alone, residents of 2.1 million U.S. houses and apartments were contacted and interviewed by 3,820 interviewers for information, according to Pennsylvania State University Professor John Iceland and a Census Bureau spokesman. In Pennsylvania, people living in 108,450 residences were contacted and interviewed, either by phone or in person, Iceland added. Philadelphia residents answered the questions of 68 interviewers for the ACS in 2017, the Census spokesman said. Governments, antipoverty advocacy agencies, and private firms use these numbers to plan their years and figure out how to allocate resources based on changes in poverty, health insurance, employment, family size, rent payments, and other factors. Each survey looks backward at the previous year to compare how numbers rose or fell, thus teasing out trends and changes. The 2018 survey, then, described life in 2017. This year, when the 2019 ACS was released on Thursday, it looked at 2018. But because the 2017 data were bad, people reading the newest survey could not contrast information between 2017 and 2018.
When he first saw the 2018 numbers in comparison with 2017, economist Paul Harrington, director of the Center for Labor Markets and Policy at Drexel University, was suspicious. For example, Harrington saw that the 2018 ACS said that the median household income in Philadelphia that year was more than $46,000, when the 2017 ACS said that the median income was $39,000. Median household income zooming from $39,000 to $46,000 in a year was too big a change. “There are no quantum leaps,” Harrington said. “Only coding errors. #BROKE IN PHILLY is a collaborative news initiative among 22 local news organizations to provide in-depth nuanced, solutions-oriented reporting on issues of poverty and push for economic justice in Philadelphia. Learn more at BrokeinPhilly.org.
TOGETHER, WE CAN End homelessness
Everybody deserves a place to call home.
From shelters and safe havens to supportive housing and nationally-renowned case management services, Resources for Human Development helps people of all abilities attain and maintain their own housing. RHD is a national leader in pioneering innovative strategies to support people as they work to break they cycle of homelessness. RHD founded One Step Away in 2009 as a voice of advocacy and social justice, and as an innovative way to solve gaps in social services that would help people achieve self-sufficiency. A national human services nonprofit with the broadest possible service mission, RHD supports tens of thousands of people each year in caring and effective services addressing intellectual disabilities, behavioral health, homelessness, addiction recovery and much more.
