nothin State Dems Split On Taxing The 1% | New Haven Independent

State Dems Split On Taxing The 1%

Staff Photos

State Reps. Robyn Porter, Joshua Elliott at the Capitol.

When Gov. Ned Lamont unveils his first proposed budget Wednesday, look for Robyn Porter and Joshua Elliott at times to cheer — while also preparing to fight.

The two Hamden state representatives (Porter also represents part of New Haven) have fought for years to get the legislature to up the minimum wage to $15 an hour and to pass a family and medical leave law. Lamont, a fellow Democrat, has made clear he supports both ideas in concept. (The details will probably involve negotiation.) And now that Democrats have won commanding majorities in both legislative chambers, Porter and Elliott have reason to believe both measures will probably pass. Along, perhaps, with electronic highway tolls, another position they support.

But another divide exists in Hartford, beyond the ones separating Democrats from Republicans or urbanities from suburbanites: a divide between progressive Democrats looking to tax the rich more and Republicans and other Democrats opposed to the idea.

Lamont, a Greenwich millionaire who has appointed a hedge fund manager as his chief of staff and chosen an accused financial predator as his economic development chief, sides with the latter group in general. Porter and Elliott are prominent members of the House Progressive Caucus, which like its Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez-led counterpart in the U.S. House is looking to push the party left on economics and taxation.

In a joint interview on WNHH FM’s Dateline New Haven,” Elliott and Porter both came out against Lamont’s proposal to boost taxes on added-sugar drinks and on e‑cigarettes. They opposed a push by a coalition of Democrats and Republicans to eliminate the estate tax. And they called for increasing state income taxes on the very wealthy.

We kumbaya-ed over minimum wage. We kumbaya-ed over medical leave. That’s good. He ran on these things,” Elliott said of his and Porter’s discussions with Lamont, whom they praise for keeping open channels of communication and for being up front about his stands. We know he’s going to fight for those things. But there are other things we’re going to fight for, like increasing the income tax. “

We keep talking about everything’s on the table.’ Everything is not on the table. We’re leaving out the fact that he said he will not tax the wealthy folks [more] in this state,” said Porter

Elliott called for raising marginal rates on individuals earning over $500,000 a year and couples earning over $1 million from 6.99 percent to somewhere between 7 and 9 percent. That would bring the rate in line with the top 8.82 percent neighboring New York charges.

Lamont and the Republican-center Democratic group argue that raising those rates would drive needed wealthy individuals to move out of state, depriving Connecticut of needed revenues. They argue that maintaining the estate tax (which currently kicks in for estates of at least $3.6 million) does the same.

If we keep going at the rate we’re going, I’ll tell you who’s leaving the state, because they’re talking to me: My constituents. Students, the working poor,” said Porter, whose district includes New Haven’s Newhallville neighborhood and Hamden’s Newhall area.

When you have to work two or three jobs to make ends meet and you still can’t save money — those are the people who are leaving this state. The only people who will be able to afford to stay in this state are millionaires and billionaires.”

Elliott said that the seven states that have raised income taxes on the wealthy in recent years have seen an influx of wealthy people,” not an exodus. He argued the more important tool for attracting wealth and jobs is investing in infrastructure.

He also pointed to a 2014 Connecticut Department of Revenue Services study that calculates how much people pay in combined state income and property taxes. The report found that the working / working-poor families were paying three times more of their income than wealthy families: Households averaging $8,000 a year in income paid 23.6 percent. Households earning between $600,000 to $2.2 million spent only 7.7 percent.

We should be living in a state where the 99 percent are doing well and the 1 percent are struggling paycheck to paycheck. We need to flip the script so all boats are lifted, not just yachts,” Porter remarked.

She also noted that the estate tax funds the state’s probate court system, asking how that important function would fare with the tax phased out.

Sin & Motivation

Paul Bass Photo

Porter and Elliott in the WNHH FM studio.

In proposing a New York City-style tax on sugary benefits, Gov. Lamont is responding to research showing that such products contribute to an obesity epidemic, especially in poor and nonwhite neighborhoods.

Porter agreed that the problem exists. But she argued that taxation would only further harm people who lack access to more healthful food. And she called Lamont’s idea another way of taxing the poor.

We have more corner stores and liquor stores in our district than anywhere else in the state. That can be said about all urban centers; there are food deserts,” Porter said.

The argument is that if we tax the sugary drinks, it will deter people. That is so not true. You are going to drink what you have access to. And if you can’t get to a grocery store, they’re not selling water and fruits. Or if they are, they’re marked up five times. You can’t afford to buy it.”

She recommended that public policy stress education” rather than taxation” in seeking to improve the health of poorer families. She made a similar argument about sin taxes” like those on tobacco.

Elliott said he too leans” toward voting against the sugary beverage tax. But he hasn’t fully made up his mind, he said, because of some of the research showing how it can help improve people’s health. (He did wonder aloud whether the tax will apply to sugary Starbucks drinks” ordered at the counter.)

He suggested that any such taxes that pass be offset” with measures to ease the financial burden on working families and the poor.

Click on the Facebook Live video below to watch the full episode of WNHH FM’s Dateline New Haven” with State Reps. Robyn Porter and Joshua Elliott and to see comments posted by viewers during the program.

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