Tax Fairness: Two Down, Two to Go
Chuck Sheketoff
Personal income tax on the wealthy. Done.
Corporate minimum tax and tax on largest and most profitable corporations. Done.
In what remains of the legislative session, lawmakers could take two more steps toward tax fairness. But will they?
Will lawmakers make sure that poor, working families don’t become roadkill?
The legislature has sent to the Governor’s desk the Jobs and Transportation Act, which will raise gasoline taxes and vehicle fees to fund important investments and repairs to Oregon’s transportation infrastructure. Those tax and fee increases, unfortunately, ask more from low-income Oregonians as a share of their income than from any other group.
The regressive nature of the Jobs and Transportation Act’s funding scheme adds urgency to improving Oregon’s Earned Income Tax Credit.
As explained in Will Poor, Working Families be Roadkill?, the legislature could do it with no harm to the upcoming budget period by starting the improvement in 2011 when the gas tax goes into effect. Will they?
Will lawmakers help frail seniors stay in their homes, rather than subsidize the medical and dental expenses of well-off seniors?
Because of the fiscal crisis, programs that help frail seniors live independently and ensure that they get assistance from a well-trained, stable workforce are at risk of getting the budget ax.
Meantime, Oregon is set to continue a tax subsidy for out-of-pocket medical and dental costs that disproportionately enriches seniors with $100,000 or more in income.
The inequity is spelled out in Misplaced Priorities. Will the legislature chose to correct the priorities?
Chuck Sheketoff is the executive director of the Oregon Center for Public Policy. You can sign up to receive email notification of OCPP materials at www.ocpp.org
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Jun 12, '09
Chuck- In the interest of accuracy and eliminating your arbitrary subjective use of terms like 'the wealthy', let's say this:
'Higher personal income tax on single filers making more than $125,000 a year and joint filers making more than $250,000. Done.'
It's not as if the people affected here aren't paying income taxes today. In a city like Portland that Forbes recently ranked as the 12th most overpriced city in America, I submit that working people (and make no mistake, the majority certainly are WORKING people) with incomes of $125K for a single person and $250K for a couple, while certainly comfortable, are hardly kicking back living a life of catered luxury.
Jun 12, '09
Chuck:
How about this for tax fairness: Repeal the kicker and prevent ballot measures from wrecking our public finance system.
Two reforms that everyone knows needs to be implemented but no action so far.
You can tax businesses and the wealthy all you want but it won't prevent devastation without these basic reforms.
Why aren't we getting them done?
4:29 p.m.
Jun 12, '09
Alcatross - At those income levels those households are in the top 20 percent of households (PDF). Yes, that chart is non-elderly households, but as shown in Table 2 of this report (PDF), among elderly households the top fifth starts at a lower income level.
Jeremy, I'm all for repealing the kickers and reform that would prevent the initiative system from wreaking havoc on our budget. Mannix's ballot measures have been particularly costly. And I'd add repeal of the anti-democratic power-to-the-minority provisions that require more than a simple majority to do conduct the state's business (except for amending the constitution). Those provisions poison our constitution and wreak havoc on the policy side, as well.
Jun 12, '09
Tax fairness in Oregon does NOT exist, at least when it comes to transportation taxes. Motorists continue to be treated as cash cows when motorist paid taxes and fees are raided and poached to subsidize and/or fund infrastructure for other modes of travel. What is needed to bring a sense of fairness to the excessive and targeted legislative tax hike agendas is a hefty bicycle tax that would be directly levied on DEADBEAT bicyclists who currently freeload on public streets and roads. Currently one more bicyclist is one less transportation taxpayer. Sharing the road must also require sharing the financial responsibility. Additionally, irresponsible deadbeat bicyclists must be directly taxed to pay for the specialized bicycle infrastructure they use and rant for. Also required for fairness with any transportation tax package is an increase transit fares. Instead of taxpayers subsidizing more than 75 percent of the costs of transit service as with TriMet; the goal must be to make transit service financially self sustainable - paid for by the users. Obviously, too many legislators only represent the (often vocal) special interests and/or have a conflict of self interest (protecting the loose change in their own pockets and their campaign contributors) rather than representing the silent majority of people and families as a whole.
Jun 13, '09
Chuck,
You never answered my question:
Who pays Corporate taxes?
Knowing who pays them are they 'Progressive'?
Jun 15, '09
reads
Jun 22, '09