Child advocacy group calls for major tax shift to close ‘highly unjust’ income, wealth gaps

Back • Publication Date: December 8, 2020 • Fiscal & Economics

A leading child advocacy group challenged Connecticut officials Tuesday to shift up to $1.4 billion per year in state and local tax burdens from low- and middle-income households and onto the rich.

Connecticut Voices for Children used its annual budget forum to protest what it describes as a regressive tax system that steadily widens “highly unjust” gaps in wealth, education, health care and chances for economic success.

And the coronavirus pandemic is dramatically widening these disparities, particularly along racial lines, while undermining the state’s overall economy, advocates added.

An income tax surcharge on the wealthy, higher property taxes on expensive homes, and an expanded estate and gift tax all could be used to fuel new tax credits for low- and middle-income working households, the New Haven-based group argued.

Those recommendations also set Connecticut Voices sharply at odds with Gov. Ned Lamont, a Greenwich businessman who insists that redistributing state and municipal tax burdens would put Connecticut at a competitive disadvantage and prompt wealthy residents to flee across the borders.

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Authors: Keith M. Phaneuf •  Source: Connecticut Mirror • View