Contact: Kenza Hadj-Moussa, 612-386-9556
November 16, 2017
NEWS STATEMENT
(St. Paul) – Today, the U.S. House passed a massive tax reform bill. TakeAction Minnesota released the following statement:
“We don’t need to ask why the GOP passed this irresponsible, immoral bill. We need to ask ourselves, as Americans, why we pay taxes—what is the value of public schools, roads, water, and health care?
Taxes pay for our society to function. Plain and simple. Under no circumstances is it right to undermine the public good for the benefit of the rich and powerful few. These values are not partisan. They are questions of our democracy and who has influence in it.”
In addition to adding $1.7 trillion to the federal deficit over the next ten years, the GOP tax bill includes significant middle-class tax increases to pay for massive tax cuts. In particular, the elimination of the state and local tax deduction will affect hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans – fully 35% of all taxpayers – threatening to undermine state and local public services. Representatives Jason Lewis, Tom Emmer, and Erik Paulsen voted for the bill.
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TakeAction Minnesota is a statewide, multi-racial people’s organization. We advance democracy and equity through organizing, political action, and policy campaigns.