Title: Fwd: Standard Tax Credit Bill
Date: Wed, 10 May 2006 23:49:33 -0700
(PDT)
From: Al Sheahen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Standard Tax Credit
Bill
Dear Friends:
It's official. The first-ever Basic
Income Guarantee Bill was introduced in the U.S. House of
Representatives by Congressman Bob Filner (D-CA) on May 2,
2006.
Below is Filner's
statement with a link to the pages in the Congressional Record in
which his speech appears.
Below that, you'll find a link to the
actual bill, which is numbered HR 5257. You can also access the
bill and its status by going to thomas.loc.gov (leave out the
www), inserting the bill number, and clicking
"search."
As you remember, the bill would transform
the standard income tax deduction into a standard tax credit of $2000
per adult and $1000 per child. For the first time, it would give
a "refundable tax credit" to everyone who filed an income
tax return, even if the person had no income.
As you know, the current "Earned
Income Tax Credit" provides a small refundable tax credit, but
only to those who have some earned income. Anyone who earns zero
is ineligible. Our Bill would change that. It would also
provide a tax cut for virtually everyone who earns less than about
$60,000 a year.
We encouraged Filner to hold a news
conference to announce the bill, but apparently that is not the way
it's done in Washington, apparently because the press never shows
up.
Getting the Bill to this point has been a
true team effort by USBIG. It was Stan's idea to develop a
bill. Karl came up with the concept of transforming the income
tax deduction into a tax credit. Steve created the title:
"A Tax Cut for the Rest of Us" Act. Along the way,
important editing contributions were made by Mike, Eri, Michael and
others.
By the way, if you'd like to see our
final 8-page proposal (which Karl and I originally presented at
the 2005 USBIG Conference), let me know and I'll send it to
you. It gives specific tax examples and the
whole picture.
Now the work begins. The Bill will
be alive for the rest of the year. Filner is still involved in
his primary election campaign, so it's up to us to carry the
ball.
I see two immediate goals:
1) get as many Congressional
co-sponsors as we can.
2) get as much support as we can
from like-minded organizations.
Last year, we were unable to get any
Republican co-sponsors, but we'll keep trying. This year, we
want to make an attempt to get Democratic legislatorss to sign
on.
We've already personally visited with 16
social welfare organizations in Washington, such as Common Cause,
Coalition on Human Rights, RESULTS, Center for Community Change,
etc.) We intend to revisit them and
others and urge them all to endorse the bill and encourage
their membership to contact their representatives to co-sponsor
the bill.
The larger purpose of both of these goals
is to begin to seriously educate activists, legislators, and
voters on the wisdom of a full BIG at the poverty level of
$10,000, so that when the U.S. political climate changes (which could
be sooner rather than later), the topic of a Basic Income Guarantee
will be back on the political table, from where it's been
missing the past 30 years or so.
I welcome any time you can
spend on this effort, even if it's only writing to your legislators
urging their support. Talk it up in your community. If you
have more time, come to Washington the week of June 5-9.
We'll make the rounds of some Congressional offices and
organizations. Now would be a good time to start writing
op-ed pieces and going on talk shows.
If you have other ideas as to how to
proceed, let's hear them. Let's use all our contacts with labor,
business, and community organizations to start talking this up.
Maybe this is a good time to implement another of Stan's ideas, to
start setting up local BIG groups.
Don't forget that Charles Murray, the
darling of the Libertarians, has just published a book recommending a
$10,000 BIG. It's a bit more restrictive than our ideal
proposal, but it certainly gives more credibility to the
overall BIG movement. We can use it.
Best,
Al
A TAX CUT
FOR THE REST OF US -- (Extensions of Remarks - May 02,
2006)
[Page: E688] GPO's PDF
---
SPEECH
OF
HON. BOB
FILNER
OF
CALIFORNIA
IN THE HOUSE
OF REPRESENTATIVES
TUESDAY, MAY
2, 2006
- Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, the ``Tax
Cut for the Rest of Us'' Act of 2006 (H.R. 5257) transforms the
standard income tax deduction into a ``refundable'' standard tax
credit. Doing so will not only simplify the tax code, but
put
[Page: E689] GPO's
PDF
more money into the pockets
of poor Americans.
- For 25 years, refundable tax
credits--such as the Earned Income Tax Credit and the ``additional
child tax credit''--have proven to be simple, effective ways to help
the poor.
- The logical next step is to transform
the standard deduction and personal exemptions into a refundable
standard tax credit (STC) of $2,000 for each adult and $1,000 for each
child. The STC will provide all the poor with a small but badly needed
tax credit, and give a tax cut to virtually everyone who chooses not
to itemize their deductions.
- Transforming the standard deduction
into a refundable tax credit will not eliminate poverty, but it will
be an enormous benefit to the poor who were completely overlooked by
the Bush tax cuts. The poor pay sales taxes, property taxes, and many
other taxes, but because they do not pay very much in income tax, they
have little to gain from tax simplification unless it includes
something like the STC.
- Transforming the standard deduction
into a standard tax credit will give a tax cut to those who need it
most. Now is the time to pass a ``Tax Cut for the Rest of
Us.''
"Hoffmeister,Thaddeus"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
[109th] H.R.5257
Title: To amend
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a basic income guarantee
in the form of a refundable tax credit for taxpayers who do not
itemize deductions.
Sponsor: Rep Filner, Bob [D-CA-51] (introduced 5/2/2006)
Cosponsors: (none)
Committees: House Ways and Means
Latest Major Action: 5/2/2006 Referred to House committee.
Status: Referred to the House Committee on Ways and
Means.
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