HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	87
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2021
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

 

Urging Hawaii's congressional delegation to introduce legislation that would repeal provisions of the federal tax cuts and jobs act of 2017, affecting low- and middle-income households.

 

 

 

     WHEREAS, on December 15, 2017, the United States Congress approved the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Public Law 115-97 (Act), the largest overhaul of the federal tax code in the past thirty years; and

 

WHEREAS, among other things, the Act lowered tax rates on wages, investments, and business income; broadened the tax base; and simplified the tax code; and

 

WHEREAS, the Act also lowered the corporate income tax to twenty-one percent and moved the United States from a worldwide system to a territorial system of taxation; and

 

WHEREAS, according to an analysis released by the Tax Policy Center, the Act was expected to raise the after-tax income of 80.4 percent of households in 2018, but that cut was not distributed evenly nor progressively; and

 

WHEREAS, the analysis revealed that the tax break would hit 93.7 percent of taxpayers in the highest-earning quintile, and only 53.9 percent of those in the lowest quintile; and

 

     WHEREAS, that is no longer expected to be true once individual tax cuts expire after 2025, at which point the Tax Policy Center estimates that the majority of taxpayers, 53.4 percent, will face a tax increase; 60.7 percent of those in the middle quintile will pay more, compared to just eight percent of the highest-earning 0.1 percent; and

     WHEREAS, with the exception of that top 0.1 percent, higher earners will enjoy larger tax breaks as a proportion of their income; and

 

WHEREAS, it was estimated that the twenty-two thousand households making $20,000 to $30,000 will collectively pay 26.6 percent more in 2027 than they would under the previous statute in that year; and

 

WHEREAS, the households making over $1,000,000 will pay one percent less; and

 

WHEREAS, in its finalized form, the Act cuts the corporate tax rate, which benefits shareholders who tend to be higher earners, while cutting individuals' taxes for a limited period of time; and

 

WHEREAS, the Act also scales back the alternative minimum tax and estate tax, as well as reduces the taxes levied on pass-through income, seventy percent of which goes to the highest-earning one percent; and

 

WHEREAS, the working people of the State are in desperate need of tax relief; and

 

WHEREAS, only reasonable reforms that promote progressivity and social equity in the federal tax code be supported; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2021, that this body urges Hawaii's congressional delegation to introduce and support legislation that would repeal provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, that negatively impact low-income and middle-income households; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to each member of Hawaii's Congressional Delegation.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017; Repeal; Low- and Middle-income Households