WHEREAS, Philadelphia is home to hundreds of thousands of working families who face rising costs of living, especially for housing, food, transportation, and childcare; and
WHEREAS, Despite working full time or multiple jobs, many Philadelphians struggle to meet basic needs due to wages that have not kept pace with inflation. According to United Way data, approximately 12% of Pennsylvania households live below the federal poverty level and another 28% fall under the United Way’s ALICE threshold, meaning they earn above poverty but still struggle to afford basic needs; and
WHEREAS, Refundable tax credits, such as the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the federal Child Tax Credit (CTC), are widely recognized as the most effective anti-poverty tools in the nation, consistently lifting millions of Americans out of poverty each year and reducing hardship for working families; and
WHEREAS, The Working Pennsylvanians Tax Credit (WPTC) was enacted by the General Assembly as part of the 2025-26 Pennsylvania state budget and signed into law by Governor Shapiro. It establishes a new refundable state tax credit modeled after the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), using the same income and eligibility rules; and
WHEREAS, Pennsylvania now joins 31 other states and the District of Columbia in implementing a version of the EITC, putting money back in the pockets of working Pennsylvanians; and
WHEREAS, Eligible Pennsylvanians may receive up to $805 a year in direct and meaningful financial relief for working individuals and families; and
WHEREAS, In its first year, the WPTC is estimated to deliver approximately $193 million in tax relief, benefiting roughly 940,000 working Pennsylvanians statewide; and
WHEREAS, By establishing the WPTC, Pennsylvania joins a growing movement to build evidence-based policy solutions to address the affordability crisis, provide essential resources to working families and lift Philadelphians out of poverty; and
WHEREAS, Thousands of Philadelphians can claim the EITC, CTC, and now the WPTC by filing their taxes for free with a trusted provider and the resources available at claimyourmoneyphl.com; and
WHEREAS, With the federal government retreating from longstanding economic security programs, cities and states must step up to lift incomes and stabilize households facing increasingly high costs; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, THAT THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, Hereby commends the Pennsylvania General Assembly for including the Working Pennsylvanians Tax Credit in the 2025-2026 budget, a crucial new tool to provide essential resources and lift families out of poverty across the Commonwealth.
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