Ask Kentucky legislators how much they will personally make off income tax cuts | Opinion

Most Op-Ed Commentaries are meant to provide “food for thought”. This one is written, rather, to spark hundreds of events in which Kentucky citizens can participate. Details are at the end of this piece.

This newspaper recently reported on a group of dozens of people celebrating and applauding each other. The cause was understandable. They were Republicans in the Kentucky legislature, who look out for themselves first and you later, if at all.

They each benefited by thousands of dollars; they will avoid a debt by transferring their share of the cost of running government to the half of Kentuckians who don’t have enough income to pay state income tax. The state tax rate is now 4%. It was, at one time, 6%. The legislature took advantage of temporary windfalls boosting the state coffers to trigger a cut in the members’ tax liabilities, with House Bill 1.

Examples: Candidate for Governor Alan Keck suggests that the money you will keep for yourself (he also means himself) is better for you to have rather than it going into government. Such funds there might be used for frivolous things such as early childhood education, better care for abused children, clean water, fixing the juvenile justice system, and paying decent salaries to our K-12 educators. He wants to replace the income tax with a stronger sales tax. Guess who will ultimately pay that? Andrew McNeill suggests that the 1.2-billion-dollar loss each year by Kentucky government can be compensated for by “local tax reform”. If the consequences for the income tax reduction weren’t so dire it would be amusing to watch them squirm intellectually as they try to suggest that the $600,000,000 loss (4.5% to 4%) to our state income is no big deal.

The pretension is that eliminating the income tax in KY will bring in industry and jobs that we miss out on because some surrounding states have no income tax. Actually, Governor Beshear’s office seems to be pulling in industry at a remarkable rate – pretty much trashing that Republican argument.

When the windfall of federal dollars meant for COVID recovery goes away, Kentucky residents will pay for this income tax reduction through reduced-quality government and increases of other taxes. Using this federal money for income tax reduction is dishonest, if not illegal. There used to be stigma attached to such blatant selfishness, lying, and cheating but the Trump era erased any such concerns for most Republicans.

This Kentucky state effort does align with the national Republican approach to taxation where the primary objective is to make rich people richer. For example, Anna Luna’s claim during a Fox Business interview that “taxation is theft” is a popular sentiment among Republicans. The day the Congresswoman said that she was paid $476 by taxpayers.

The new congress is considering a bill (the “Fair Tax Act”) to eliminate the income tax and replace it with a 30% national sales tax. If this becomes law, grocery store clerks, teachers, truck drivers, daycare workers — all those doing real work who barely make enough to pay any income tax at all — will see their usable income cut by about a third, while stockbrokers will reap a windfall. They, and others who receive passive income, get lots of money for doing nothing that could be called labor.

There is a large and growing disparity between rich and poor: The top 1% of households in the United States hold about one-third of the country’s wealth (which is more than all of the middle class holds) while the bottom 50% hold less than 3%. For this we can thank the Republicans for their Trump-era tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations. We can also thank those citizens who, while being screwed by the Republicans, continue to vote to keep them in office.

Beyond the proclivity of Republicans generally to benefit the richest citizens is the fringe element that controls Speaker McCarthy. Watching them “legislate” one can conclude that they need publicity and attention as fish need water. The suggestion that their middle-school antics, replete with a shouting altercation in the girl’s bathroom between Marjorie and Lauren, unfairly maligns middle-schoolers, most of whom are serious students. Watching the “Freedom Caucus” gyrate would be funny if it weren’t for the real possibility that they will sink the United States economy by failing to raise the debt limit.

Getting back to the main objective of this Op-Ed, I propose that every citizen – and in particular every journalist – who has contact with a Republican member of the legislature or gubernatorial candidate ask this question: How much will you benefit personally from the passage of House Bill 1— the recent cut in the Kentucky income tax — from 5% to 4%? You won’t get a straight answer of course; they will bob and weave and obfuscate. But I can give you the answer: a whole lot. We can’t hope to reverse HB1, but maybe by asking these pointed, embarrassing questions we can prevent further financial damage to the poor and middle-class citizens of the Commonwealth.

Michael Kennedy is a retired University of Kentucky geography professor.