WHEREAS:
The Congress is now considering a major restructuring of the federal tax system; and
WHEREAS:
There is a pressing need for tax reform in the country. As a result of both long-existing tax loopholes and new ones enacted during President Reagan’s first term, many profitable corporations and wealthy Americans are not contributing their fair share of federal taxes. In contrast, the tax burden on middle-income and poor Americans has risen sharply in recent years.
WHEREAS:
The Reagan Administration and other right-wing forces have seized on the real need for tax reform as an excuse to further elements of their own conservative agenda. Their insistence on the elimination of the deductibility of state and local taxes, the taxation of employer-provided workplace benefits and greater tax incentives for business are all examples.
WHEREAS:
The House of Representatives in December 1985 passed the Tax Reform bill (HR 3838) that redressed many major problems with the tax system and avoided the new inequities advocated by the Administration. That bill —
WHEREAS:
The subsequent passage of the Gramm-Rudman deficit cutting mechanism has made the need for new revenues to maintain vital federal programs and services even more urgent. The major source of those new revenues must be from closing corporate loopholes and enacting a minimum tax.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:
That AFSCME urge Congress to make the federal income tax system fairer and more progressive, as well as raise additional, adequate revenues to meet domestic spending needs, by actions to:
SUBMITTED BY:
International Executive Board