WHEREAS:

In 1997 Congress, after repeated efforts to slash federal spending to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy, finally approved a five-year balanced budget plan that included $95 billion in tax cuts that went primarily to the wealthy and cut $263 billion from federal programs that benefit working people; and

WHEREAS:

Republican leaders in Congress, including Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-MS), House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA), and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Archer (R-TX) and others have all called for massive, new tax cuts for the wealthy in 1998, while others, such as House Budget Chairman John Kasich (R-OH), have even called for a new round of spending cuts to pay for new tax cuts for the wealthy; and

WHEREAS:

The robust economy and past budget cuts have combined to create a projected budget surplus for the first time in over 30 years, which some in Congress also say should be used to pay for new tax cuts; and

WHEREAS:

The American people have made clear their frustration with the complexity of current federal income tax system; and

WHEREAS:

The federal income tax remains the most progressive element of the combined federal, state and local tax system and raises the vast majority of federal revenues; and

WHEREAS:

Certain members of Congress are promoting radical changes to the current federal income tax system, including replacing the entire system with a ‘flat-tax’ on earned income or a national sales tax; and

WHEREAS:

All of the current proposals for radical tax reform would severely reduce federal revenues, provide massive tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations, and shift tax burdens onto low- and middle-income taxpayers; and

WHEREAS:

Radical tax reform would impinge drastically upon state and local governments’ ability to raise revenue from their own income and sales taxes.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:

That AFSCME urge the American people, the United States Congress and the President of the United States to oppose additional federal tax breaks that benefit the wealthiest Americans at the expense of middle-income and working families; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:

That AFSCME support strategies that require the wealthy and corporate interests to shoulder their share of the burden of balancing the federal budget while maintaining a strong safety net for displaced workers and families living in poverty; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:

That AFSCME strongly opposes efforts to replace the existing federal income tax with a national sales tax that would dramatically reduce state and local sales tax collections, increase the tax burden on working families, and constitute a massive cut in taxes on the wealthy and corporations; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:

That AFSCME also strongly opposes efforts to replace the federal income tax with a so-called ‘flat tax’ that would apply to wages, salaries and benefits of working families, while allowing the wealthy and corporations to earn investment income completely free from taxation; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:

That AFSCME will work to develop and support enactment of a plan to amend the current federal income tax system to make compliance more simple for taxpayers, evasion more difficult for tax cheats, and the whole system more progressive and fair for working families; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:

That the federal tax reform proposals supported by AFSCME will raise adequate, predictable revenues to fully fund federal programs, and will not infringe upon the rights or abilities of state and local governments to raise revenues through their own sales and income tax systems; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED:

That AFSCME opposes any federal tax changes that would have the effect of increasing the federal deficit.

SUBMITTED BY:

Edward Keller, Executive Director and Delegate 
AFSCME Council 13
Pennsylvania