Thursday, August 10, 2023 – Tomorrow is the one year anniversary of the passage of historic corporate tax reform with the Inflation Reduction Act and Congress now risks erasing those tax-fairness gains with expensive new corporate tax breaks. Rocky Mountain Values and Americans for Tax Fairness are partnering to voice their opposition to the current U.S. House budget and tax plans, issuing a report of Colorado and nationwide impacts. The U.S. House budget passed in April would require at least a 22% cut in federally funded public services next year. This would reduce federal aid to Colorado by $1.1 billion in 2024, and up to $17 billion over the next decade. Now the GOP-led Congress is working to pass expensive new corporate tax breaks. A package of bills would extend—at a long-term cost of over $1 trillion—three expired provisions of 2017’s Trump-GOP tax law benefitting big corporations, along with other tax cuts heavily tilted toward the wealthy. This is in stark contrast to the Inflation Reduction Act, which is already having a huge impacts nationwide, cutting costs for families and seniors, creating jobs, taking historic action to fight climate change, and generating a “domestic manufacturing boom.” Today, consumer confidence has hit the highest point in two years, real wages are higher than they were before the pandemic and inflation is down for 12 straight months. Provisions are lowering insulin costs and providing older Americans with Medicare free life-saving vaccines, while the extension of ACA tax credits is keeping low and no premium ACA plans available for millions of Americans and has helped reduce the uninsured rate to historic lows. And, Americans can now take advantage of tax credits to make their homes more energy efficient and lower their utility bills. “Coloradans can clearly see that investing in people and communities is the best approach to strengthening our economy while lowering costs for families. Enough is enough with giving tax breaks to corporations and the wealthy and just hoping that will help our communities in Durango, Grand Junction and Pueblo prosper,” said Justin LaMorte, Executive Director of Rocky Mountain Values. “The ink’s barely dry on the debt-limit deal that included cuts to vital family services demanded by the GOP in the name of fiscal austerity, but they’ve already pivoted to budget-busting tax cuts to corporations. This duplicitous two-step is a damning indictment of who U.S. House leadership sees as worthy of investment. They have sought to slash public services that lower the costs of healthcare, childcare, education, housing and other household expenses for American families and then give those public resources to the ultra-rich in the form of tax cuts. The full House should reject this legislation and instead raise taxes on corporations and the wealthy so they pay their fair share,” said David Kass, Executive Director of Americans for Tax Fairness.
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