PA House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff (R-Centre/Mifflin) and I have something in common. We are both lifelong residents of Centre County, a county that is home to Penn State University and two state prisons. I’m confident that he would agree with a lot of my assessments made here. Senate Majority leader Kim Ward (R-Westmoreland) during Legislative Redistricting Commission (LRC) meetings has repeatedly compared counting college students on campus to counting incarcerated people in prison. As someone who grew up next to both, I can tell you exactly why this comparison is off base. There are very distinct differences in counting college students on campus and counting incarcerated people in prison.
College students live in and contribute to the communities where their colleges are located. My home town of State College is a great example of this. We wouldn’t have much of a town at all if there weren’t a college here bringing in tens of thousands students every year. Not having students here during COVID crippled our economy and forced several businesses to close because they had no way to make up for the lost revenue. These students not only contribute to the economy and create jobs here in State College, they engage with local organizations, volunteer in the community, and contribute to the overall betterment of our area. The students are the lifeblood of State College, while people in prisons are not effectively engaged with our community in any meaningful way. They are never allowed off of prison grounds. They are not volunteering with local community groups. I don’t suspect we’ll be re-naming the town “State Prison” anytime soon.
On top of engaging in the community, students are also civically engaged. Every year they participate in our local elections, engage with our elected officials, and have mechanisms at their disposal to hold those officials accountable. People incarcerated in State Prisons are not allowed to vote in our local elections even if they are eligible to vote. They have no access to local elected officials, and, more importantly, local elected officials have no access to them. One of the Centre County Commissioners told me that if they get a report of an issue in one of the State Correctional institutions there’s nothing they can do even if the person was a resident of Centre County prior to being incarcerated. All he can do is report it to the state. If our county and local officials have no option to provide constituent services to the people inside the walls of our two state correctional facilities, how can the people inside them be counted as residents of our county?
Students don’t just live and vote here, they also pay taxes. Many students work at least a part time job, which contributes to our local income tax pool. On top of that, they pay a bulk of the local sales tax as a lot of the money spent locally is spent by students and alumni. Students also contribute money to local utilities paying for water, sewer, and trash removal. State Prisons don’t pay for any of those things and local municipalities must provide them to the prisons at no cost. Without students the area would bring in far less in property tax as most of the housing in State College Borough and some in the surrounding townships are geared towards students. Again, State Prisons don’t pay local property taxes at all.
Not only are the students a part of our community, the university is as well. Penn State is Centre County’s largest employer, offers countless programs and services to the community, and hosts large events that directly contribute to the economy as well as the livelihoods of our residents. The PSU campus is open to all residents to work, explore, and learn. I can at any time walk in and sit in on classes and lectures that I'm interested in while interacting with the students and professors. There will never be a time that I can just walk into SCI Rockview and engage in activities or classes that are happening there.
The fact of the matter is, counting college students as residents of the areas where they attend college makes sense for many reasons while counting people incarcerated in state prisons where they are located does not.
Jenna Henry is the Deputy Director of Better PA.
College students live in and contribute to the communities where their colleges are located. My home town of State College is a great example of this. We wouldn’t have much of a town at all if there weren’t a college here bringing in tens of thousands students every year. Not having students here during COVID crippled our economy and forced several businesses to close because they had no way to make up for the lost revenue. These students not only contribute to the economy and create jobs here in State College, they engage with local organizations, volunteer in the community, and contribute to the overall betterment of our area. The students are the lifeblood of State College, while people in prisons are not effectively engaged with our community in any meaningful way. They are never allowed off of prison grounds. They are not volunteering with local community groups. I don’t suspect we’ll be re-naming the town “State Prison” anytime soon.
On top of engaging in the community, students are also civically engaged. Every year they participate in our local elections, engage with our elected officials, and have mechanisms at their disposal to hold those officials accountable. People incarcerated in State Prisons are not allowed to vote in our local elections even if they are eligible to vote. They have no access to local elected officials, and, more importantly, local elected officials have no access to them. One of the Centre County Commissioners told me that if they get a report of an issue in one of the State Correctional institutions there’s nothing they can do even if the person was a resident of Centre County prior to being incarcerated. All he can do is report it to the state. If our county and local officials have no option to provide constituent services to the people inside the walls of our two state correctional facilities, how can the people inside them be counted as residents of our county?
Students don’t just live and vote here, they also pay taxes. Many students work at least a part time job, which contributes to our local income tax pool. On top of that, they pay a bulk of the local sales tax as a lot of the money spent locally is spent by students and alumni. Students also contribute money to local utilities paying for water, sewer, and trash removal. State Prisons don’t pay for any of those things and local municipalities must provide them to the prisons at no cost. Without students the area would bring in far less in property tax as most of the housing in State College Borough and some in the surrounding townships are geared towards students. Again, State Prisons don’t pay local property taxes at all.
Not only are the students a part of our community, the university is as well. Penn State is Centre County’s largest employer, offers countless programs and services to the community, and hosts large events that directly contribute to the economy as well as the livelihoods of our residents. The PSU campus is open to all residents to work, explore, and learn. I can at any time walk in and sit in on classes and lectures that I'm interested in while interacting with the students and professors. There will never be a time that I can just walk into SCI Rockview and engage in activities or classes that are happening there.
The fact of the matter is, counting college students as residents of the areas where they attend college makes sense for many reasons while counting people incarcerated in state prisons where they are located does not.
Jenna Henry is the Deputy Director of Better PA.