FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2024
CONTACT: press@opportunitywisconsin.org
ICYMI: “I asked Congressman Bryan Steil to fight for fair taxes. Will he listen?”
In new op-ed, Racine resident highlights the importance of tax reform that helps working families instead of prioritizing handouts for those at the top
MADISON, Wis. – In a new op-ed published on Up North News, Racine retiree and community advocate Janet Mitchell discusses the importance of reforming the federal tax code to provide relief for working families and seniors, and her recent visit with Congressman Bryan Steil which left her, “without the assurance that he would fight for a tax code that supports people like me.”
With many provisions of the 2017 Republican Tax Law set to expire next year, Congress has an opportunity to prioritize tax policies that support middle-class families across the country. Since its passage, the current law has disproportionately benefited large corporations and the ultra-rich, leaving small businesses and families to carry more of the burden.
Last month advocates from Wisconsin and 21 other states visited Washington, DC to share their experience and directly ask their members of Congress to reform the tax code.
Up North News: Opinion: I asked Congressman Bryan Steil to fight for fair taxes. Will he listen?
[Janet Mitchell, 10/16/24]
Recently, I had the opportunity to join hundreds of advocates and leaders from 22 states to visit our elected officials in Washington and ask them directly to support a tax code that helps working families and seniors succeed, while making those at the top finally pay their fair share. I even told my congressman, US Rep. Bryan Steil (R-Janesville), how important this issue was to me. Now, I hope he listens.
In 2018, for the first time in history, billionaires paid taxes at a lower rate than middle class families. Thanks to this law, from 2018 to 2022 there were also 23 successful and profitable companies who paid zero federal taxes. I don’t know many small business owners or working families in Wisconsin who could get away with this, do you?
These conversations gave me an opportunity to tell them directly that Wisconsinites expect better. We’re tired of seeing our hard-working family members and neighbors being asked to carry more of the burden, while those at the very top are given even more in handouts.
But my visit with Congressman Steil left me without the assurance that he would fight for a tax code that supports people like me. He didn’t agree that today’s tax system disproportionately benefits those at the top and he didn’t commit to allowing provisions of the 2017 Republican Tax Law to expire. This matches closely with his record in Congress. He has co-sponsored legislation which would not only extend many of the law’s provisions, but would make some of them permanent.
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