Press Releases

(As prepared for delivery)

Welcome Secretary Mnuchin and thank you for joining us today. 

We are here to examine the President’s 2021 budget, a proposal that doubles down on Republicans’ policy of expanding benefits for the wealthy and special interests at the expense of the middle class.

The year after the Republican tax law went into effect, we saw the sharpest drop in 50 years in the amount of income taxes corporations paid. On top of predicted losses, the Congressional Budget Office reports that Treasury’s business-friendly regulations combined with tax planners’ workarounds will cause the government to miss out on an additional $110 billion in tax revenue.  

Here’s what’s clear: The Republican tax law has not paid for itself, and middle-class Americans have not seen the benefits they were promised. Wages are still nearly stagnant, and evidence points to state and local minimum wage increases driving much of the limited wage growth we have seen. 

President Trump claimed that the 2017 tax law would cause the economy to grow by as much as six percent. That growth never materialized. Instead, growth slowed to barely above two percent in the fourth quarter of last year, roughly the same rate economists projected we’d see without the tax cuts. The sugar high of Republicans’ tax law has worn off and more trouble is on the horizon, especially with the spread of the coronavirus shaking world markets.

In this moment of crisis, we need sound leadership and reassurance from the President. Unfortunately, he has failed to inspire confidence in the government’s response to this public health emergency. 

And now, the decrease in people with comprehensive health care coverage that resulted from the 2017 tax law and its damage to the Affordable Care Act threatens to exacerbate the coronavirus crisis. This development is especially dangerous as the Trump Administration promotes junk insurance plans that lack essential health benefits, like coverage for hospital services to treat coronavirus.

We meet today not just in the midst of a health crisis, but also during tax filing season. Yet again, lower-income Americans find themselves receiving worse treatment than their wealthier peers. Millions of workers had to wait, and many may still be waiting, on their refunds from the Earned Income Tax Credit and the refundable Child Tax Credit. These tax filers deserve to receive their refunds immediately after February 15 and should not face weeks of IRS processing delays. Last year, Ways and Means Democrats sought to bring more fairness to the tax code and voted to expand these important tax credits as part of my legislation, the Economic Mobility Act.

I am pleased to see a slight increase in IRS funding in the President’s budget, but the request still falls far lower than the amount the agency received a decade ago. While we need to provide the IRS with the resources required to support its important work, we must also ensure that it executes that work fairly and responsibly. Low-income tax filers should not be audited at a disproportionately higher rate simply because their returns are less complicated to examine. The IRS needs to go after tax frauds and cheats at every income level. 

I will note that I was pleased to see that you appointed a new National Taxpayer Advocate, Erin Collins. We look forward to working with her as she carries out a critical service to American taxpayers during filing season and throughout the year.

Mr. Secretary, there is much for us to work on together, and I thank you for being here today. 
            
And with that I will recognize Mr. Smith, for an opening statement. 

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