Congressman Jason Smith (R-Missouri) should be applauded for his recent pro-taxpayer legislation, HR 1380, the Permanent Tax Relief for Working Families Act. This legislation would make permanent the doubled Child Tax Credit of $2,000 per child and the $500 dependent credit established in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA).

American families have seen significant tax reductions due to the Trump-Republican expansion of the child tax credit as noted in IRS 2018 Statistics of Income (SOI) data:

•  In 2017, 22 million households earning $200,000 or less took the child tax credit. These households received an average tax credit of $1,213.
   
• In 2018, 36 million households earning $200,000 or less took the child and other dependent tax credit. These households received an average credit of $2,002.

• In 2017, 16.6 million households earning between $25,000 and $100,000 took the child tax credit. These households received an average tax credit of $1,271.

• In 2018, 23.3 million households earning between $25,000 and $100,000 took the child and other dependent tax credit. These households received an average tax credit of $1,912.
   

Middle class American families saw the biggest tax cut from the TCJA. 

Americans with incomes between $50,000 and $100,000 saw their tax liability drop by an average of 13 percent, twice as much as Americans with income above $1 million, who saw their tax liability drop by an average of 5.8 percent. 

In Rep. Smith’s 8th District of Missouri, his constituents benefited from the expanded Child Tax Credit.

• In 2017, 48,490 households in the 8th District of Missouri earning $200,000 or less took the child tax credit. These households received and average tax credit of $1,244.

• In 2018, 72,170 households in the 8th District of Missouri earning $200,000 or less took the child tax credit. These households received and average tax credit of $1,996.

• In 2017, 38,730 households in the 8th District of Missouri earning between $25,000 and $100,000 took the child tax credit. These households received an average tax credit of $1,309.

• In 2018, 51, 260 households in the 8th District of Missouri earning between $25,000 and $100,000 took the child tax credit. These households received an average tax credit of $1,989.

Without any action from Congress, the Child Tax Credit will decrease from $2,000 to $1,000 after 2025. If Members of Congress are serious about providing relief for working parents, they should support the Permanent Tax Relief for Working Families Act.

Massachusetts small businesses have struggled under the weight of the pandemic-driven downturn. Data from the Opportunity Insights Recovery Tracker shows that the number of small businesses open is down 37% in Massachusetts since the start of 2020. These statistics likely would have been much worse if federal lawmakers didn’t enact the Paycheck Protection Program as part of the 2020 CARES Act to provide aid to struggling small businesses. 

Approximately 120,000 Massachusetts businesses utilized Paycheck Protection Program federal loans to survive a sudden, once-in-a-century pandemic that shut their businesses down through no fault of their own.  Once they established the PPP, federal lawmakers made clear that if a company took the loan and maintained normal operations, they would forgive the loan, and the IRS would treat the loan as a tax-free grant. Beacon Hill legislators have so far failed to do the same, and Bay State employers are facing the prospect of surprise state income tax bills this spring as a result 

Due to the way the Massachusetts tax code conforms to the federal tax code, the legislature must take action to ensure PPP loans – which were a lifeline to many employers and advertised as tax-free – are not treated as taxable income for small businesses at the state level. Failure to do so would result in many struggling companies facing a surprise income tax bill at a time when they can least afford it. 

Massachusetts businesses now face a March 15 deadline before their tax bills are due. A series of legislation with bipartisan support have attracted over 100 co-sponsors to finally fix this egregious error before it’s too late. However, Beacon Hill leadership has remained far more interested in expensive new climate regulations than protecting small businesses. Questions remain over whether leadership will bring this to a vote. Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka must act now to move a clean bill forward and protect small businesses from an expense they could never have expected to pay.  

By clicking here, Massachusetts residents can reach out to their representatives and state senators and urge them to avoid state taxation of pandemic relief by supporting SD172, HD484, HD1338, and HD1965. 

This session, legislators in the Grand Canyon State are working hard to improve the state’s criminal justice system and protect the rights and property of Arizonans.

Overdue civil asset forfeiture reform, HB 2810, is on the move and through the House already, sailing through with 57 yes votes to only 2 nays. Now, it is making its way through the Senate, which passed a similar bill last year, only to see it blocked by House Democrats in a bizarre move.

Under current asset forfeiture laws, Arizonans can have their property seized by law enforcement without a crime having been committed. They can also lose their property if it was used in a criminal activity without their knowledge – authorities do not have to prove the property owner knew. Combine these issues with a difficult-to-navigate process for citizens trying to get their property back, and the deck is inappropriately stacked against Arizonans.

HB 2810 would require a conviction for property to be forfeited, so there is actually a crime that has been committed – and it makes the appeals process less onerous, and more clear.

The House also sent HB 2713 to the Senate, legislation that expands earned release credits for people in prison. Since Texas took up criminal justice reform more than a decade ago to the federal First STEP Act, conservatives have recognized that better preparing people to contribute to society upon their release is the way to go. The vast majority of those in the system will be released one day regardless, it is best for their futures, and public safety, when they are able to find work and improve their communities.

Passing HB 2713 should be a big priority for the legislature, and Arizonans. It promises to address an overly expensive prison system, while boosting public safety.

But wait, there’s more! The Arizona Senate has passed legislation, SB 1551, to end driver’s license suspension as a means to strong arm people who owe court debt.

Suspending a license for dangerous driving is more than appropriate, but suspending someone’s license because they can’t afford a fine is wrong and counterproductive.

It can cost someone their job by significantly limiting their transportation options, or make it difficult for them to look for a job in the first place. Without income, it only becomes harder for someone to pay off the debt they owe. This bad situation can get worse, as desperation may result in someone committing the offense of driving without a license, this can spark a downward cycle as a new offense is piled on top of whatever prior offense led to the initial fine and court debt.

Arizonans would be much better off if people weren’t being put in this absurd Catch 22 situation. Further, courts are not likely making much, if any additional money with this tactic.

Results from California, one of the early states to reform driver’s license suspension, show that courts are now receiving more money because people are better able to pay their fines if they can drive to work. California’s courts reported a 9% increase in collections on newly issued traffic tickets following reform.

Momentum is building behind a bill that would deregulate growler sales in Minnesota. A “growler” is a 64oz reusable container that beer fans use to take home draft beer from their favorite breweries.  Currently in Minnesota breweries that produce over 20,000 barrels per Year are restricted from using these industry-standard beer-to-go containers.

Representative Jim Nash sponsored H.F. 1050/S.F. 874, which would end the restriction on big breweries selling growlers.  Representative Nash recently stated “It's finally time to 'Free the Growler' and stop punishing five successful breweries in our state while removing a hurdle many growing breweries may face in the coming years”, Representative Nash is optimistic about the bills future, “Beer is bipartisan and we will have bipartisan support on our proposal in the House and Senate. We need lawmakers to overcome the resistance to change that has kept Minnesota's liquor laws stuck in the 1940s."”

As craft beer continues to grow and establish a permanent foot hold in the market, many states have a game of catch up to play in terms of modernizing their laws to better reflect the current realities of the beer market. Industries can change significantly quicker than the laws governing them can. State by state quirks and out dated laws stifle the beer market, such as in Massachusetts where breweries are only allowed to fill growlers that they manufactured. In California the laws were the same as Massachusetts, until a recent reform which allowed customers to merely display a sticker of the brewery on the growler instead of requiring a custom receptacle just for that establishment.

Brewery owners argue that the restriction dis-incentivizes breweries to expand and hurts the industry as a whole. Jim Diley, The co-founder of Fulton Beer said “Year after Year, we've come back and have not seen success in moving that cap…. The bottom line is we are a family-run, locally-owned group of breweries that are seeking commonsense change."

Supporters of this type of legislation should look at COVID as an opportunity to modernize laws governing alcohol sales. Rep Jim Nash is rallying support in his state to get rid of these obtuse restrictions. Eliminating arbitrary hoops that small businesses must jump through is a far better strategy for economic recovery than more government handouts. Breweries and small businesses across the country have been some of the hardest hit by the economic complications caused by COVID. This legislation will only serve to aid their recovery.