Following Senate passage of the Republican tax bill, Heather O’Loughlin of the Montana Budget and Policy Center released the following statement:
“Both the Senate and House tax bills are costly new giveaways to the very wealthy and major corporations at the expense of working families, including tens of millions of low-income and middle-class Americans who actually would face a tax increase. The GOP tax plans won’t create new jobs or help Main Street businesses—in fact, they could actually hurt Montana businesses and workers by giving large multinational corporations a permanent tax advantage. We call on Senator Daines and Representative Gianforte to stand with their constituents and reject the final tax bill.
Both tax bills would explode deficits, strain our state budget, and almost certainly force cuts to everything from nutrition assistance for families to education, Medicare, and infrastructure. To make matters worse, the Senate bill guts the Affordable Care Act, increasing the number of uninsured people by 13 million all to pay for corporate tax cuts.
Small changes won’t fix these terribly flawed bills, and the merged tax bill that comes out of a conference committee will be more of the same – offering nothing to most working families and ultimately hurting many Montanans. Instead of tax cuts that help those who need it the least, Senator Daines and Representative Gianforte should work to advance tax policies that invest in working families and ensuring that any tax bill is paid for by closing tax loopholes or other responsible tax changes.”
MBPC is a nonprofit organization focused on providing credible and timely research and analysis on budget, tax, and economic issues that impact low- and moderate-income Montana families.