Groups call on Oregon congressional delegation to reject more tax breaks for the wealthy

U.S. Capitol with dark clouds in the background

Groups call on Oregon congressional delegation to reject more tax breaks for the wealthy

U.S. Capitol with dark clouds in the background

Groups call on Oregon congressional delegation to reject more tax breaks for the wealthy

A dozen Oregon organizations sent a letter to the state’s congressional delegation today calling on them to oppose tax cuts for the wealthiest individuals and corporations as part of the upcoming federal tax debate in 2025.

“Regardless of who we voted for in November, Americans did not vote to give another tax cut to the wealthy or to give corporations another tax cut,” the letter said. The signers of the letter included groups advocating for children and families, labor groups, and groups representing communities of color and rural communities.

Later this year, Congress is expected to enact major tax legislation. This is because portions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), enacted during the first Trump administration, are set to expire. 

That law has mainly benefited the rich and large corporations, according to Alejandro Queral, Executive Director of the Oregon Center for Public Policy, one of the signatories to the letter. “Many Oregon families are having a hard time dealing with the rising cost of housing, groceries, and child care,” he said. “One thing that Oregonians do not need is more tax giveaways for billionaires and big corporations. Instead, we need Congress to prioritize investments in working families.”

Extending the expiring provisions of the 2017 tax law, as well as enacting other tax proposals announced by Trump during last year’s presidential campaign, would result in tax cuts for the richest 5 percent of Americans and tax increases for the rest, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.

Such a result would go against the wishes of the vast majority of Oregonians, according to the letter. It cited research saying that 81 percent of Oregon’s residents support raising taxes on wealthy corporations, the wealthiest households, and households earning more than $400,000 a year.

“Oregonians are not fooled by trickle-down economics,” said Sarah Weber-Ogden, Co-Executive Director of Community Food Justice at Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon. “They know that cutting taxes for the rich and corporations only works to boost the fortunes of the rich, doing little or nothing for working families.” 

The letter struck a hopeful note, saying, “The expiration of key provisions of the Trump tax bill in 2025 is a rare opportunity to unite the vast majority of people who want to correct long-standing inequity in our tax code, and help produce an economy that works for all Americans.”

The signatories to the letter include Children’s Institute, Family Forward, Rural Organizing Project, APANO Communities United Fund, Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon, Coalition of Communities of Color, American Federation of Teachers – Oregon, Our Children Oregon, Tax Fairness Oregon, SEIU Oregon, Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste (PCUN), and the Oregon Center for Public Policy.

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Written by staff at the Oregon Center for Public Policy.

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