Time for COVID relief is dwindling. A bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced a $908 billion COVID relief package on Tuesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is floating a relief proposal and Sen. Mitch McConnell is circulating a wholly inadequate package. The best chance for legislation may be to include it in an omnibus appropriations bill, which Congress must pass this month. Following is a statement from Amy Hanauer, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, regarding congressional negotiations over another round of economic relief.
Amy Hanauer
Amy Hanauer joined ITEP in 2020, bringing nearly 30 years of experience working to create economic policy that advances social justice. As executive director of both ITEP and Citizens for Tax Justice (CTJ), Amy provides vision and leadership to promote fair and equitable state and national tax policy.
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news release December 2, 2020 Lame-Duck Session No Time for Perfection, but a Bold Compromise on COVID Relief Is Needed
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blog November 20, 2020 State Tax Policy: Innovations to Embrace, Schemes to Avoid
Better tax policies will help communities emerge from the current staggering fiscal crisis with tax structures that reduce inequality at a time when rich people are thriving and public services are under siege. Preserving public spending will boost the economy and improve lives–and cutting these essentials will not only hurt people but also deepen the downturn, a lesson we learned in the Great Recession’s slow recovery. Other states should take note.
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news release September 30, 2020 People Need Relief. House Compromise COVID-19 Bill Addresses Urgent Needs
Media contact Following is a statement by Amy Hanauer, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, regarding the COVID-19 relief bill that the U.S. House is expected… -
blog September 29, 2020 It’s Time to Change the Tax Laws to Make Donald Trump and Corporate Giants Pay Up
It’s time for a new approach. Trump’s egregious tax avoidance further exposes a system that preserves an enormous and growing economic divide. Congress has gutted IRS funding so that we don’t have the resources to audit wealthy tax avoiders. And lobbyists continue to secure giveaways for corporate clients that do nothing for our communities.
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brief September 15, 2020 Tax Justice is…
Racial justice requires tax justice. Economic justice requires tax justice. Climate and health justice require, yes, tax justice.
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news release September 10, 2020 GOP ‘Skinny Bill’ Rightly Fails, Too Skimpy for This Crisis
“Nearly one in eight households don’t have enough to eat. Millions are at risk of eviction. State and local governments are facing revenue shortfalls of well more than $500 billion, leading to inevitable layoffs and cuts to critical services. Knowing that, the Republican Senate put forth a so-called skinny COVID relief package that failed to address these concerns. Too skimpy for this crisis, the bill failed as it should have.”
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ITEP Work in Action August 26, 2020 South Strong: Racial Equity and Taxes in Southern States
Southern states have a particularly egregious record on tax equity, rooted partly in racism. Lawmakers baked some of the most egregious and anti-democratic tax policies into southern state constitutions, such… -
blog August 25, 2020 Missed Opportunity: Flimsy Paper Touts Flawed Program
Republicans continue to tout Opportunity Zones as their main vehicle to assist poor people, most recently with a deeply flawed report from President Trump’s White House Council of Economic Advisors and a mention from Donald Trump Jr. in his opening night convention speech. The report purports to compare—as a way of cutting poverty—tax breaks for investors vs food, cash or health insurance coverage for struggling families.
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blog August 14, 2020 Action (lack thereof) on Economic Aid Reflects Longstanding Anti-Government Agenda
The biggest danger we face right now is that politicians will fail to get this health crisis under control and Americans will continue to die. The second biggest danger is that elected officials will fail to help families and communities, leading to foreclosures, evictions, and impoverishment—and also torpedoing the economy. With their inaction this week, the Senate seems determined to do both. Hold on everyone, we’re in for a sickening ride.
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blog July 28, 2020 A Hero vs a Heel: No Contest
Americans are demanding policy that meets the needs of this urgent moment. There are now competing proposals from the U.S. House and Senate: One is a reasonable response to the staggering crisis we’re in. One is not.
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news release July 23, 2020 Republican COVID Relief Plan Doesn’t Rise to the Moment
Media contact Following is a statement by Amy Hanauer, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), regarding the pending Republican plan for phase IV COVID-19 relief.… -
report July 16, 2020 Trade Deals Aren’t Enough: Fixing the Tax Code to Bring American Jobs Back
We all need the public sector to protect public health, keep us safe, educate our children, and much more. Companies, particularly multinational corporations, could not function without the legal, infrastructure, financial, regulatory, health, and transportation resources that the government provides.
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news release July 13, 2020 ITEP: Tax Cuts for the Rich Will Exacerbate Inequality, Fail to Address Current Economic Crisis
Following is a statement by Amy Hanauer, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, regarding White House Advisor Larry Kudlow’s statement on priorities for the next economic relief package.
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blog June 22, 2020 ITEP supports Black Lives Matter
The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy stands with activists who are guiding the movement to transform America, dismantle systemic racism in policing, and envision a better justice system. Committed protestors in big cities, small towns, and suburban enclaves have spurred a sea change in public opinion and policy possibility on policing and incarceration. Their work and activism builds on years of action by Black Lives Matter and other leaders.
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blog June 16, 2020 Tax Justice and Racial Justice: Transformative Change Is Overdue
Progressive tax policy can spur deep investments in communities, help families afford childcare and college, provide healthcare for everyone, re-imagine energy consumption to stop heating the planet, expand parks and bike lanes and public transit. Economic justice can give workers a greater voice than corporations in our democracy. People are protesting because the moment for transformative change in policing and our economy is long overdue.
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blog May 12, 2020 HEROES Act is an Appropriate Recession Response
House Democrats today introduced a proposal that responds to our staggering economic crisis with the right policies at the necessary scale. It’s a refreshing change from some of the misdirected ideas that have passed or been floated in these alarming economic times.
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news release May 6, 2020 ITEP: White House Seeks to Exploit COVID-19 Crisis to Enact Unpopular Tax Cuts
Following is a statement by Amy Hanauer, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, regarding the Trump administration’s musings to respond to the COVID-19 health and economic crisis with tax cuts.
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blog April 29, 2020 Economic Catastrophe in States Looms as Federal Relief Lags
A bipartisan group of governors and senators from Louisiana to Maryland to Ohio have called for at least $500 billion in state and local fiscal relief. They also need specific help with testing, protective equipment, unemployment costs, Medicaid costs, social services, education and infrastructure. States can’t be on their own as they address the double whammy of plunging revenue and skyrocketing needs.
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news release April 21, 2020 ITEP: Congress Must Provide More Relief to States
Media contact Following is a statement by Amy Hanauer, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, regarding the Senate bill on small business relief. “State budgets have… -
blog April 14, 2020 History, Economic Justice, and COVID-19
Our elected officials have to listen to we the people and change their approach. Going forward, corporate voices cannot continue to steer. Instead, families, communities and working individuals have to lead our policymaking so it better helps people struggling now.
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news release April 14, 2020 ITEP: Tax Cuts for Millionaires in the CARES Act Violate Public Trust
“Public trust and the broad agreement that families and communities needed immediate relief from the economic crisis allowed the $2.2 trillion economic relief package to move quickly through Congress. Yet during a crisis in which thousands have lost their lives and millions are losing their jobs, their health care and their retirement security, some of our lawmakers snuck in tax benefits for the nation’s richest families.”
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news release March 27, 2020 The Job Is Not Yet Done: ITEP Statement on the $2 Trillion Relief Package
Following is a statement by Amy Hanauer, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, regarding the $2 trillion relief package expected to be enacted today. ITEP’s distributional… -
news release March 19, 2020 Senate Bill Addresses Unprecedented Health and Economic Crisis with Wrong-Headed Corporate Tax Cuts
Following is a statement by Amy Hanauer, ITEP’s executive director, regarding the GOP aid plan introduced today by the Senate: -
blog March 10, 2020 Taxes in a Time of Coronavirus
Some problems can only be solved when public officials have the resources to act. Today’s public health crisis is that kind of problem. Unfortunately, the Trump administration’s deep tax cuts leave our health infrastructure knee-capped, just when we need it most.
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news release February 10, 2020 “Budget for America’s Future” Cuts Funding for Essentials
The budget proposal reinforces the Trump Administration’s commitment to maintaining trillions in tax cuts for the rich and corporations, even if it requires cutting support for food assistance, cutting funding support for education, harming our environment or taking away health care from millions of Americans.