Democrats Urge Opposition to Further Corporate Tax Relief
Democrats Urge Opposition to Further Corporate Tax Relief
- AuthorsDoggett, Rep. LloydBrown, Sen. SherrodDeLauro, Rep. Rosa L.Whitehouse, Sen. SheldonCohen, Rep. SteveSchakowsky, Rep. Janice D.Markey, Sen. Edward J.García, Rep. Jesús G.Baldwin, Sen. TammyNorton, Del. Eleanor HolmesMerkley, Sen. JeffDeFazio, Rep. Peter A.Warren, Sen. Elizabeth A.Pingree, Rep. ChellieBooker, Sen. Cory A.DeSaulnier, Rep. MarkVan Hollen, Sen. ChrisGrijalva, Rep. Raúl M.Blumenthal, Sen. RichardTonko, Rep. PaulHarris, KamalaLee, Rep. BarbaraSanders, Sen. BerniePocan, Rep. Mark WilliamHirono, Sen. Mazie K.Smith, Rep. AdamUdall, TomPressley, Rep. AyannaDuckworth, Sen. TammyEspaillat, Rep. AdrianoSchatz, Sen. BrianNadler, Rep. JerroldSmith, Sen. TinaLowenthal, Rep. Alan S.Reed, Sen. JackThompson, Rep. Bennie G.Casey, Sen. Robert P., Jr.Scanlon, Rep. Mary GayKlobuchar, Sen. AmyOmar, Rep. IlhanGillibrand, Sen. Kirsten E.Lawrence, Rep. Brenda L.Heinrich, Sen. MartinMcGovern, Rep. James P.Leahy, Sen. Patrick J.Watson Coleman, Rep. BonnieDurbin, Sen. Richard J.Soto, Rep. DarrenKaine, Sen. TimBrownley, Rep. JuliaMurphy, Sen. ChristopherOcasio-Cortez, Rep. AlexandriaRush, Rep. Bobby L.Hayes, Rep. JahanaVelázquez, Rep. Nydia M.Takano, Rep. MarkKhanna, Rep. RoRaskin, Rep. JamieKennedy, Joseph P., IIICarson, Rep. AndréSerrano, José E.Evans, Rep. DwightWelch, Sen. PeterLevin, Rep. AndyBoyle, Rep. Brendan F.Yarmuth, Rep. John A.Cicilline, Rep. David N.Johnson, Rep. Henry C., Jr.Chu, Rep. JudyHaaland, Debra Anne "Deb"DeGette, Rep. DianaJayapal, Rep. PramilaNapolitano, Rep. Grace F.Clark, Rep. Katherine M.Davis, Rep. Danny K.Huffman, Rep. JaredDoyle, Rep. Michael F.Hastings, Alcee L.Maloney, Rep. Carolyn B.Johnson, Rep. Eddie BerniceGomez, Rep. JimmyKildee, Rep. Daniel T.Fudge, Marcia LouiseKaptur, Rep. MarcyAxne, Rep. Cynthia "Cindy"Brown, Anthony G.Lynch, Rep. Stephen F.Garamendi, Rep. JohnRyan, Rep. TimMcNerney, Rep. JerryWasserman Schultz, Rep. DebbieMeng, Rep. GraceBeatty, Rep. JoyceMoore, Rep. GwenDeutch, Theodore E.Eshoo, Rep. Anna G.Kirkpatrick, Rep. AnnLarsen, Rep. RickBonamici, Rep. SuzanneCourtney, Rep. JoeClarke, Rep. Yvette D.Escobar, Rep. VeronicaCastro, Rep. JoaquinSarbanes, Rep. John P.Porter, Rep. KatieTlaib, Rep. RashidaLuján, Sen. Ben RayGallego, Rep. Ruben
- Institutional AuthorsU.S. House of RepresentativesU.S. Senate
- Subject Area/Tax Topics
- Jurisdictions
- Tax Analysts Document Number2020-25498
- Tax Analysts Electronic Citation2020 TNTF 129-34
July 2, 2020
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Speaker
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable Kevin McCarthy
Republican Leader
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable Mitch McConnell
Majority Leader
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Charles Schumer
Democratic Leader
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Speaker Pelosi, Leader McCarthy, Leader McConnell, and Leader Schumer:
Thank you for your leadership as we work together to deliver more assistance to struggling families across the country. In addition to presenting immediate hardships, the COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare and magnified the economic inequality that existed long before the crisis. As we consider additional relief, we urge you to reject corporate tax breaks that would widen the income gap and reward wealthy shareholders instead of workers.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) found recently that aid to state and local governments and increased Medicare spending are far more effective at stimulating the economy than more business tax breaks. Mark Zandi, the chief economist for Moody's Analytics similarly found that such tax breaks cost many times more than the economic activity they generate.
While small businesses and laid-off workers are struggling, the stock market is soaring, ensuring that large corporations continue to have access to capital. Those that require additional liquidity can seek assistance from the $500 billion Federal Reserve fund, which remains largely untouched. In addition, the 2017 Trump tax law already provided an enormous corporate windfall, and additional changes to tax policy have accrued favorably to corporate tax liability. While low-income workers anxiously awaited $1,200 stimulus checks, one of the tax breaks included in the CARES Act delivered an average of $1.6 million to just 43,000 taxpayers earning more than a million dollars in annual income.
Despite such generous handouts, large corporations are seeking a second helping. While Republicans continue to stand in the way of expanding refundable tax credits for working families like the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit, they stand ready to award refundable tax credits to large corporations. Part of why large businesses seek refundability or what they call monetizing their tax credits is because so many corporations have little or no tax liability following the historic deficit-financed giveaways they received under the Trump tax law.
In addition to pushing corporate handouts in the form of tax credits, President Trump's economic advisor Larry Kudlow proposed slashing the already record-low corporate tax rate in half for companies that bring jobs home. Unfortunately, the Trump tax law already allows companies to pay half the U.S. rate on offshore investments and in some cases even zero. No tax break, however well targeted can beat the zero rate current loopholes already allow. Multinationals with armies of tax lawyers would be able to game such provisions to reap further windfalls.
We urge you to oppose such corporate tax breaks, which have little to do with pandemic relief and much to do with temporarily boosting the stock market and benefiting the wealthiest among us. Whether in the form of tax breaks, loans, or other federal support, any assistance to corporations must at the very least come with adequate guardrails to ensure workers benefit instead of executives and shareholders. However, our focus must be on advancing more efficient relief measures that put assistance directly into the hands of the families that need it most.
Sincerely,
Lloyd Doggett
Member of Congress
Sherrod Brown
U.S. Senator
Rosa L. DeLauro
Member of Congress
Sheldon Whitehouse
U.S. Senator
Steven Cohen
Member of Congress
Jan Schakowsky
Edward J. Markey
Jesús G. “Chuy” García
Member of Congress
Tammy Baldwin
United States Senator
Eleanor Holmes Norton
Member of Congress
Jeffrey A. Merkley
United States Senator
Peter DeFazio
Member of Congress
Elizabeth Warren
United States Senator
Chellie Pingree
Member of Congress
Cory A. Booker
United States Senator
Mark DeSaulnier
Member of Congress
Chris Van Hollen
United States Senator
Raúl M. Grijalva
Member of Congress
Richard Blumenthal
United States Senator
Paul D. Tonko
Member of Congress
Kamala D. Harris
United States Senator
Barbara Lee
Member of Congress
Bernard Sanders
United States Senator
Mark Pocan
Member of Congress
Mazie K. Hirono
United States Senator
Adam Smith
Member of Congress
Tom Udall
United States Senator
Ayanna Pressley
Member of Congress
Tammy Duckworth
United States Senator
Adriano Espaillat
Member of Congress
Brian Schatz
United States Senator
Jerrold Nadler
Member of Congress
Tina Smith
United States Senator
Alan Lowenthal
Member of Congress
Jack Reed
United States Senator
Bennie G. Thompson
Member of Congress
Robert P. Casey, Jr.
United States Senator
Mary Gay Scanlon
Member of Congress
Amy Klobuchar
United States Senator
Ilhan Omar
Member of Congress
Kirsten E. Gillibrand
United States Senator
Brenda L. Lawrence
Member of Congress
Martin Heinrich
United States Senator
James P. McGovern
Member of Congress
Patrick Leahy
United States Senator
Bonnie Watson Coleman
Member of Congress
Richard J. Durbin
United States Senator
Darren Soto
Member of Congress
Tim Kaine
United States Senator
Julia Brownley
Member of Congress
Christopher S. Murphy
United States Senator
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Member of Congress
Bobby L. Rush
United States Senator
Jahana Hayes
Member of Congress
Nydia M. Velázquez
Member of Congress
Mark Takano
Member of Congress
Ro Khanna
Member of Congress
Jamie Raskin
Member of Congress
Joseph P. Kennedy
Member of Congress
André Carson
Member of Congress
José E. Serrano
Member of Congress
Dwight Evans
Member of Congress
Peter Welch
Member of Congress
Andy Levin
Member of Congress
Brendan F. Boyle
Member of Congress
John Yarmuth
Member of Congress
David N. Cicilline
Member of Congress
Henry C. “Hank” Johnson, Jr.
Member of Congress
Judy Chu
Member of Congress
Deb Haaland
Member of Congress
Diana DeGette
Member of Congress
Pramila Jayapal
Member of Congress
Grace F. Napolitano
Member of Congress
Katherine Clark
Member of Congress
Danny K. Davis
Member of Congress
Jared Huffman
Member of Congress
Mike Doyle
Member of Congress
Alcee L. Hastings
Member of Congress
Carolyn B. Maloney
Member of Congress
Eddie Bernice Johnson
Member of Congress
Jimmy Gomez
Member of Congress
Daniel T. Kildee
Member of Congress
Marcia L. Fudge
Member of Congress
Marcy Kaptur
Member of Congress
Cindy Axne
Member of Congress
Anthony Brown
Member of Congress
Stephen Lynch
Member of Congress
John Garamendi
Member of Congress
Tim Ryan
Member of Congress
Jerry McNerney
Member of Congress
Debbie Wasserman Schultz
Member of Congress
Grace Meng
Member of Congress
Joyce Beatty
Member of Congress
Gwen Moore
Member of Congress
Ted Deutch
Member of Congress
Anna G. Eshoo
Member of Congress
Ann Kirkpatrick
Member of Congress
Rick Larsen
Member of Congress
Suzanne Bonamici
Member of Congress
Joe Courtney
Member of Congress
Yvette D. Clarke
Member of Congress
Veronica Escobar
Member of Congress
Joaquin Castro
Member of Congress
John Sarbanes
Member of Congress
Katie Porter
Member of Congress
Rashida Tlaib
Member of Congress
Ben Ray Luján
Member of Congress
Ruben Gallego
Member of Congress
- AuthorsDoggett, Rep. LloydBrown, Sen. SherrodDeLauro, Rep. Rosa L.Whitehouse, Sen. SheldonCohen, Rep. SteveSchakowsky, Rep. Janice D.Markey, Sen. Edward J.García, Rep. Jesús G.Baldwin, Sen. TammyNorton, Del. Eleanor HolmesMerkley, Sen. JeffDeFazio, Rep. Peter A.Warren, Sen. Elizabeth A.Pingree, Rep. ChellieBooker, Sen. Cory A.DeSaulnier, Rep. MarkVan Hollen, Sen. ChrisGrijalva, Rep. Raúl M.Blumenthal, Sen. RichardTonko, Rep. PaulHarris, KamalaLee, Rep. BarbaraSanders, Sen. BerniePocan, Rep. Mark WilliamHirono, Sen. Mazie K.Smith, Rep. AdamUdall, TomPressley, Rep. AyannaDuckworth, Sen. TammyEspaillat, Rep. AdrianoSchatz, Sen. BrianNadler, Rep. JerroldSmith, Sen. TinaLowenthal, Rep. Alan S.Reed, Sen. JackThompson, Rep. Bennie G.Casey, Sen. Robert P., Jr.Scanlon, Rep. Mary GayKlobuchar, Sen. AmyOmar, Rep. IlhanGillibrand, Sen. Kirsten E.Lawrence, Rep. Brenda L.Heinrich, Sen. MartinMcGovern, Rep. James P.Leahy, Sen. Patrick J.Watson Coleman, Rep. BonnieDurbin, Sen. Richard J.Soto, Rep. DarrenKaine, Sen. TimBrownley, Rep. JuliaMurphy, Sen. ChristopherOcasio-Cortez, Rep. AlexandriaRush, Rep. Bobby L.Hayes, Rep. JahanaVelázquez, Rep. Nydia M.Takano, Rep. MarkKhanna, Rep. RoRaskin, Rep. JamieKennedy, Joseph P., IIICarson, Rep. AndréSerrano, José E.Evans, Rep. DwightWelch, Sen. PeterLevin, Rep. AndyBoyle, Rep. Brendan F.Yarmuth, Rep. John A.Cicilline, Rep. David N.Johnson, Rep. Henry C., Jr.Chu, Rep. JudyHaaland, Debra Anne "Deb"DeGette, Rep. DianaJayapal, Rep. PramilaNapolitano, Rep. Grace F.Clark, Rep. Katherine M.Davis, Rep. Danny K.Huffman, Rep. JaredDoyle, Rep. Michael F.Hastings, Alcee L.Maloney, Rep. Carolyn B.Johnson, Rep. Eddie BerniceGomez, Rep. JimmyKildee, Rep. Daniel T.Fudge, Marcia LouiseKaptur, Rep. MarcyAxne, Rep. Cynthia "Cindy"Brown, Anthony G.Lynch, Rep. Stephen F.Garamendi, Rep. JohnRyan, Rep. TimMcNerney, Rep. JerryWasserman Schultz, Rep. DebbieMeng, Rep. GraceBeatty, Rep. JoyceMoore, Rep. GwenDeutch, Theodore E.Eshoo, Rep. Anna G.Kirkpatrick, Rep. AnnLarsen, Rep. RickBonamici, Rep. SuzanneCourtney, Rep. JoeClarke, Rep. Yvette D.Escobar, Rep. VeronicaCastro, Rep. JoaquinSarbanes, Rep. John P.Porter, Rep. KatieTlaib, Rep. RashidaLuján, Sen. Ben RayGallego, Rep. Ruben
- Institutional AuthorsU.S. House of RepresentativesU.S. Senate
- Subject Area/Tax Topics
- Jurisdictions
- Tax Analysts Document Number2020-25498
- Tax Analysts Electronic Citation2020 TNTF 129-34