Liberal legislators and union leaders call for higher taxes on wealthy to fund a ‘people’s recovery’ from the pandemic
/by Michael Hamad, The Hartford Courant
Just two days before the start of the legislative session, progressive lawmakers and community organizers went after Connecticut’s wealthiest residents, issuing 11 policy recommendations that include a “millionaires’ tax” on individual income in excess of $500,000 a year.
“We have over 50 percent of the citizens in this state making $53,000 or less, paying three times the tax that our wealthy constituents are paying,” state Rep. Robyn Porter, D-New Haven, who co-chairs the Labor and Public Employees Committee, said Monday on the steps of the Capitol. “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to do the math. That is not equitable, it is not fair, it is not just, and it must change.”
Porter and a dozen state legislators stood shoulder to shoulder with members of Bargaining for the Common Good CT — a coalition made up of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) State Council and its District 1199 Chapter; the Connecticut State Employees Association (CSEA); the Congress of CT Community Colleges (4Cs); CT Working Families and other organizations — to advocate for a “people’s recovery,” one that would fund and expand public education, health care, child care, mental health services, housing, environmental conditions and livable wages for working class residents.
The coalition wants to raise Connecticut’s personal income tax rates to 9% for individuals making more than $500,000 a year ($800,000 for joint filers) to 13% for those making more than $1 million a year ($1.2 million for joint filers), which it said would generate approximately $1.25 billion annually for the state. (Right now, Connecticut has lower rates on top tiers than New York and New Jersey.)
In addition, the group wants the legislature to impose a 5% surtax on capital gains, dividends and taxable interest for individuals with income in excess of $500,000 a year ($1 million for joint filers), which it said would generate approximately $875 million annually.
“This is not the time for austerity,” said state Sen. Saud Anwar, D-South Windsor. “What we need is a progressive taxation, and there’s no way around it. After every disaster in the history of mankind and the current times, it has been through progressive actions that we have come out of disasters.”
Other Democratic lawmakers who were present included Rep. Roland Lemar, Rep. Anne Hughes, Rep. Ed Vargas, Rep. Mike Winkler, Rep. Kara Rochelle, Rep. Geoff Luxenberg, Rep. David Michel, Rep. Quentin Phipps, Rep. Brian Smith, Representative-elect Kate Farrar, Senator-elect Jorge Cabrera and Rep. Jillian Gilchrest.
The proposal arrives amid calls for lower taxes and more business-friendly policies by many Republican lawmakers in the General Assembly.
