With our nation struggling economically, we are each facing challenges as individuals in our responsibility to ourselves and families and as citizens in our responsibilities to each other and our communities.  I believe however that times of struggle are what bring out courage, determination and the willingness to do "whatever it takes". 
I have met and worked with some of the most amazing people in the field of early care and education.  We are a community always thinking about how to do the very best on behalf of the children and families we serve.  I am writing today to ask you to consider another opportunity to serve Pennsylvania's children. 
We are in a difficult situation economically in Pennsylvania, like states across the country, trying to determine how to provide funding for what is most important. The Governor has just recently suggested the solution to our budget deficit cannot be found by continuing to make cuts to vital programming but instead to increase the Personal Income Tax (PIT).  I realize that does not make the majority of us jump for joy but I hope you will take a minute to review some facts and consider that the alternative to raising revenue is making more cuts to many vital programs including early education. 
I am not an expert on any of the revenue raising options but using the Governor's suggestion as an example, consider for a moment what $5.00 buys you. Would you be able to live without it once a week?  For me, it's a couple cups of coffee or one car wash or one take-out lunch. I've decided that none of these things are more important to me than supporting the programs that serve our most vulnerable children and adults and I would be willing to pay more in taxes so that these programs don't have to be cut. 
Let me share with you some details of the suggested Personal Income Tax increase to help illustrate how I came to my decision.  More than one third of Pennsylvania households would be unaffected by an increase in the Personal Income Tax (PIT).  Those include households earning below $34,400 (they already receive a full refund on their PIT through Pennsylvania's Tax Forgiveness program) and senior citizens whose primary income is Social Security.
For those of us that earn more - here are some numbers:  A family earning $40,000 in annual income would see a $200 PIT increase (minus federal tax savings of $20) which amounts to a pocketbook impact of approximately 49 cents per day or $3.43 per week.  A family that earns $70,000 would see a $350 PIT increase (minus federal tax savings of $53) and would have 82 less cents in their pocket per day or $5.74 per week.  Someone who earns $100,000 would see a $500 PIT increase (minus federal tax savings of $75) the impact to the pocketbook would be approximately $1.16 per day or $8.12 per week. 
So with the understanding that without increased revenue we will lose, at least in part, the early learning programs we have worked and fought so hard to create and implement, I am personally willing to give up my cup of coffee so that families can have child care to go to work, so that kids can have quality education and so that our most vulnerable citizens can continue getting the services they can't live without. If you find that you too are willing to give up a cup of coffee, please let your legislators know (you can find out who they are and their contact information at www.legis.state.pa.us) so that they understand what you support as they all work so hard to balance the budget. 
As always, thank you for your time and commitment to Pennsylvania's children and families!

Jodi Askins
Executive Director