Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) and Citizens for Tax Justice (CTJ) Boards of Directors announced today the appointment of Amy Hanauer as Executive Director to lead the organizations’ tax justice work. Hanauer, founder of Policy Matters Ohio, will assume responsibilities mid-January 2020, joined by long-time ITEP-CTJ team member Meg Wiehe in her expanded role as Deputy Executive Director. Together the pair will lead the organizations in transforming tax policies to better meet the country’s needs.

Senator and presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren released a plan today to offset the costs of Medicare for All, a publicly funded single-payer health care program. While ITEP has not crunched the numbers, it seems likely overall that her proposals would raise trillions of dollars and leave costs and taxes either unchanged or lower for most low- and middle-income people.

Several Democratic candidates have proposed raising the statutory corporate tax rate from its current level of 21 percent to fund their spending proposals. Political reporters and observers may read a great deal into the different corporate rates proposed by candidates, but the truth is that rates mean very little on their own.

A new report from ITEP explains the potential benefits of a financial transaction tax (FTT), which is supported by several presidential candidates. Few proposals can be said to raise revenue for public investments, make our tax code more progressive, and improve the efficiency of our financial system all at the same time. An FTT can do all of that.

A financial transaction tax (FTT) has the potential to curb inequality, reduce market inefficiencies, and raise hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue over the next decade. Presidential candidates have proposed using an FTT to fund expanding Medicare, education, child care, and investments in children’s health. Any of these public investments would be progressive, narrowing resource gaps between the most vulnerable families and the most fortunate.

On Tuesday night, 25 Republicans joined nearly all the chamber’s Democrats to approve the Corporate Transparency Act, a bill that would require those creating a company to report its owners to the federal government. The White House expressed support but called for the House and Senate to work on certain details, creating the possibility that the measure could be enacted.