The EITC's Benefits by District
Issue Brief
Download PDFSB 349 would help a significant share of lawmakers’ constituents
As the 2011 legislature enters its final weeks and lawmakers consider bills that would have a positive economic impact for their districts, they should know that a significant share of their constituents utilize the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). The EITC, acknowledged as one of the most effective anti-poverty programs, gives a hand up to working families with children.
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The EITC's Benefits by District: SB 349 would help a significant share of lawmakers’ constituents (PDF)
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Your Constituents Utilize the EITC, May 12, 2009
OCPP's monthly CenterPoints column for February 2009, An Improved Tax Credit, a New Direction for Oregon.
Oregonians for Working Families, a statewide coalition that advocates for improving Oregon's EITC.
The tables below show that one in seven taxpayers relies on the EITC. In some legislative districts more than one in five taxpayers rely on the EITC.
In 2008 the federal EITC brought $452 million in federal dollars into Oregon, averaging $7.5 million per House district, $15 million per Senate district.
Oregon supplements the value of the federal credit with the Oregon EITC, which currently equals 6 percent of the federal credit.
Oregon’s credit is small. The average recipient gets about $109. Oregon’s EITC is among the smallest of state EITC credits. At 6 percent it is only one-third the size of what it would need to rank in the middle of the pack among state EITCs.
Most states have chosen not to levy income taxes on the working poor, but Oregon has not. Raising the Oregon EITC is the most targeted way to accomplish that goal.
Increasing the Oregon EITC would be a small but important step toward achieving a tax system that is based on ability to pay. When state and local taxes are combined, Oregon’s low-wage workers pay a higher share of their income in taxes than the highest-paid workers. The 20 percent of non-elderly Oregon families at the bottom of the income scale pay 8.7 percent of their income in state and local taxes, while the top 1 percent pay only 6.6 percent. Increasing the Oregon EITC would start to reverse that imbalance.
Senate Bill 349 proposes to improve Oregon’s EITC by increasing its size to 18 percent of the federal credit. To soften its fiscal impact, the bill would phase-in the increase in increments of 3 percentage points per year over a four-year period.
By supporting this legislation, lawmakers would be providing concrete assistance to a significant number of their constituents. They would be helping low-income, working families with children make ends meet.
Federal Earned Income Tax Credit by State House District, 2008 |
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House District |
Representative |
# of Returns |
# of EITC Returns |
EITC Share |
EITC Amount |
Share Rank |
1 |
Krieger |
33,637 |
6,064 |
18.0% |
$11,078,650 |
16 |
2 |
Freeman |
19,446 |
3,553 |
18.3% |
$6,590,355 |
13 |
3 |
Hicks |
26,440 |
5,366 |
20.3% |
$9,837,900 |
6 |
4 |
Richardson |
28,862 |
5,217 |
18.1% |
$9,608,097 |
14 |
5 |
Buckley |
29,347 |
5,127 |
17.5% |
$8,865,639 |
18 |
6 |
Esquivel |
28,711 |
5,081 |
17.7% |
$9,891,261 |
17 |
7 |
Hanna |
24,167 |
4,362 |
18.1% |
$7,912,981 |
15 |
8 |
Holvey |
26,746 |
3,366 |
12.6% |
$5,082,189 |
47 |
9 |
Roblan |
25,707 |
4,490 |
17.5% |
$8,014,111 |
19 |
10 |
Cowan |
27,106 |
4,409 |
16.3% |
$7,590,734 |
24 |
11 |
Barnhart |
26,851 |
3,796 |
14.1% |
$6,428,701 |
35 |
12 |
Beyer |
26,167 |
4,963 |
19.0% |
$9,304,627 |
9 |
13 |
Nathanson |
29,524 |
3,992 |
13.5% |
$6,357,264 |
41 |
14 |
Hoyle |
27,986 |
4,767 |
17.0% |
$8,177,215 |
21 |
15 |
Olson |
28,961 |
4,255 |
14.7% |
$7,824,631 |
28 |
16 |
Gelser |
26,294 |
2,741 |
10.4% |
$3,966,021 |
53 |
17 |
Sprenger |
25,830 |
4,213 |
16.3% |
$7,966,985 |
23 |
18 |
Gilliam |
27,054 |
3,735 |
13.8% |
$7,328,933 |
39 |
19 |
Cameron |
27,205 |
3,881 |
14.3% |
$7,586,344 |
32 |
20 |
Berger |
27,324 |
3,877 |
14.2% |
$7,391,401 |
34 |
21 |
Clem |
25,289 |
5,291 |
20.9% |
$10,844,455 |
4 |
22 |
Komp |
23,586 |
5,182 |
22.0% |
$11,033,402 |
1 |
23 |
Thompson |
27,345 |
3,990 |
14.6% |
$7,616,219 |
29 |
24 |
Weidner |
27,157 |
4,182 |
15.4% |
$8,291,878 |
26 |
25 |
Thatcher |
28,206 |
4,017 |
14.2% |
$7,802,606 |
33 |
26 |
Wingard |
31,035 |
3,000 |
9.7% |
$5,454,241 |
55 |
27 |
Read |
29,495 |
2,878 |
9.8% |
$4,920,113 |
54 |
28 |
Barker |
29,979 |
3,365 |
11.2% |
$6,147,599 |
51 |
29 |
Brewer |
26,290 |
3,676 |
14.0% |
$7,348,725 |
37 |
30 |
Lindsay |
33,227 |
3,636 |
10.9% |
$6,739,929 |
52 |
31 |
Witt |
27,852 |
3,626 |
13.0% |
$6,463,769 |
44 |
32 |
Boone |
27,362 |
3,968 |
14.5% |
$7,047,996 |
31 |
33 |
Greenlick |
37,927 |
2,813 |
7.4% |
$3,082,376 |
59 |
34 |
Harker |
32,000 |
3,592 |
11.2% |
$6,491,013 |
50 |
35 |
Doherty |
31,138 |
2,928 |
9.4% |
$4,854,098 |
56 |
36 |
Nolan |
32,375 |
2,407 |
7.4% |
$2,362,116 |
58 |
37 |
Parrish |
29,691 |
2,309 |
7.8% |
$3,965,119 |
57 |
38 |
Garrett |
28,907 |
1,681 |
5.8% |
$2,332,736 |
60 |
39 |
Kennemer |
28,465 |
3,220 |
11.3% |
$5,898,055 |
49 |
40 |
Hunt |
27,663 |
3,544 |
12.8% |
$6,201,762 |
46 |
41 |
Tomei |
28,596 |
4,022 |
14.1% |
$6,213,682 |
36 |
42 |
Bailey |
33,121 |
4,069 |
12.3% |
$4,169,884 |
48 |
43 |
Frederick |
30,759 |
4,246 |
13.8% |
$5,944,521 |
40 |
44 |
Kotek |
29,079 |
5,077 |
17.5% |
$8,888,512 |
20 |
45 |
Dembrow |
28,412 |
3,951 |
13.9% |
$6,548,201 |
38 |
46 |
Cannon |
27,930 |
4,059 |
14.5% |
$6,446,432 |
30 |
47 |
Smith, J. |
26,768 |
5,565 |
20.8% |
$11,560,311 |
5 |
48 |
Schaufler |
27,387 |
5,847 |
21.3% |
$12,233,785 |
3 |
49 |
Wand |
29,129 |
4,849 |
16.6% |
$9,772,968 |
22 |
50 |
Matthews |
27,524 |
4,197 |
15.2% |
$8,407,798 |
27 |
51 |
Sheehan |
32,814 |
4,378 |
13.3% |
$8,279,116 |
42 |
52 |
Johnson |
29,109 |
3,865 |
13.3% |
$6,855,288 |
43 |
53 |
Whisnant |
34,182 |
5,462 |
16.0% |
$10,184,643 |
25 |
54 |
Conger |
36,876 |
4,776 |
13.0% |
$8,208,248 |
45 |
55 |
McLane |
27,106 |
5,079 |
18.7% |
$9,572,842 |
11 |
56 |
Garrard |
25,147 |
4,994 |
19.9% |
$9,612,063 |
7 |
57 |
Smith, G. |
24,514 |
4,492 |
18.3% |
$8,860,759 |
12 |
58 |
Jenson |
24,213 |
4,698 |
19.4% |
$9,694,055 |
8 |
59 |
Huffman |
25,621 |
4,842 |
18.9% |
$9,428,903 |
10 |
60 |
Bentz |
21,257 |
4,648 |
21.9% |
$9,583,726 |
2 |
House Average |
28,298 |
4,161 |
15.0% |
$7,536,133 |
-- |
|
Source: OCPP presentation of IRS data for the 2008 tax year compiled and sorted by legislative districts by the Brookings Institution. |
||||||
Federal Earned Income Tax Credit by State Senate District, 2008 |
||||||
Senate District |
Senator |
# of Returns |
# of EITC Returns |
EITC Share |
EITC Amount |
Share Rank |
1 |
Kruse |
53,083 |
9,617 |
18.1% |
$17,669,005 |
7 |
2 |
Atkinson |
55,304 |
10,583 |
19.1% |
$19,446,427 |
5 |
3 |
Bates |
58,060 |
10,208 |
17.6% |
$18,757,650 |
8 |
4 |
Prozanski |
50,920 |
7,729 |
15.2% |
$12,996,321 |
14 |
5 |
Verger |
52,814 |
8,899 |
16.8% |
$15,604,845 |
9 |
6 |
Beyer |
53,017 |
8,759 |
16.5% |
$15,733,070 |
10 |
7 |
Edwards |
57,503 |
8,759 |
15.2% |
$14,533,585 |
13 |
8 |
Morse |
55,255 |
6,996 |
12.7% |
$11,790,652 |
23 |
9 |
Girod |
52,897 |
7,950 |
15.0% |
$15,300,484 |
15 |
10 |
Winters |
54,519 |
7,756 |
14.2% |
$14,974,511 |
18 |
11 |
Courtney |
48,872 |
10,472 |
21.4% |
$21,876,527 |
1 |
12 |
Boquist |
54,502 |
8,171 |
15.0% |
$15,908,097 |
16 |
13 |
George |
59,241 |
7,017 |
11.8% |
$13,256,820 |
26 |
14 |
Hass |
59,471 |
6,243 |
10.5% |
$11,067,352 |
27 |
15 |
Starr |
59,517 |
7,313 |
12.3% |
$14,088,654 |
24 |
16 |
Johnson |
55,215 |
7,594 |
13.8% |
$13,511,857 |
20 |
17 |
Bonamici |
69,927 |
6,405 |
9.2% |
$9,573,296 |
28 |
18 |
Burdick |
63,516 |
5,335 |
8.4% |
$7,216,600 |
29 |
19 |
Devlin |
58,598 |
3,990 |
6.8% |
$6,297,856 |
30 |
20 |
Olsen |
56,128 |
6,764 |
12.1% |
$12,099,817 |
25 |
21 |
Rosenbaum |
61,703 |
8,090 |
13.1% |
$10,382,547 |
22 |
22 |
Shields |
59,826 |
9,322 |
15.6% |
$14,832,075 |
12 |
23 |
Dingfelder |
56,369 |
8,012 |
14.2% |
$12,996,610 |
19 |
24 |
Monroe |
54,154 |
11,411 |
21.1% |
$23,794,096 |
2 |
25 |
Monnes Anderson |
56,653 |
9,046 |
16.0% |
$18,180,767 |
11 |
26 |
Thomsen |
61,923 |
8,244 |
13.3% |
$15,134,404 |
21 |
27 |
Telfer |
71,058 |
10,238 |
14.4% |
$18,392,891 |
17 |
28 |
Whitsett |
52,249 |
10,073 |
19.3% |
$19,183,725 |
4 |
29 |
Nelson |
48,728 |
9,190 |
18.9% |
$18,554,814 |
6 |
30 |
Ferrioli |
46,878 |
9,490 |
20.2% |
$19,012,629 |
3 |
Senate Average |
56,597 |
8,322 |
14.9% |
$15,072,266 |
-- |
|
Source: OCPP presentation of IRS data for the 2008 tax year compiled and sorted by legislative districts by the Brookings Institution. |
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