- Walker’s budget slashes tax credits that aid poor, By Dee J. Hall, March 6, 2011, Wisconsin State Journal: “Low-income taxpayers in Wisconsin would lose hundreds of dollars in tax credits a year under Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed budget – at the same time the governor wants tax cuts for businesses and investors to boost jobs. Walker proposes cutting about $16 million a year from the program, which in 2009 paid 273,939 low-income Wisconsin residents a total of $133 million. Under Walker’s proposed biennial budget, a single mother with two children earning about minimum wage – $15,000 a year – would lose $302 of her $704 Earned Income Tax Credit next year, according to estimates from the nonpartisan Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance. A two-parent household with two children earning $30,000 a year would see its tax credit cut by $194 to $258, the alliance said…”
- Bill seeks to cut EITC percentage, By Matthew Clark, March 11, 2011, Pittsburg Morning Sun: “A bill spearheaded by a Kansas House committee has been proposed to decrease Kansas’ Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) from its current 18 percent to 5 percent over the next four years. State Rep. Terry Calloway, a Pittsburg Republican, introduced the measure to the House Taxation Committee and it has already drawn sharp attacks from Democrats and other opponents who call the measure ‘counter-productive.’ The bill will generate an additional $56.3 million to the state’s General Fund initially in fiscal year 2012 and increase to $64.5 million by fiscal year 2016. It will reduce the amount of the tax credit – which is meant to benefit low-income individuals and families and also takes out a provision making the tax credit refundable. That means, if a family’s tax credit was higher than their tax liability, they would have the liability paid off, but would not get a check for the difference…”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty