RALEIGH, N.C. - As the nation gears up to celebrate Independence Day, those who have fought hard to defend it may be fighting a new tax proposal in the North Carolina General Assembly. House Bill 998 would let the state Earned Income Tax Credit expire.
Allan Freyer, public policy analyst for the North Carolina Budget and Tax Center, analyzed a new national report on tax credits for military families and found that the expiration of the state EITC would impact 64,000 North Carolina military families alone.
"You cannot receive the Earned Income Tax Credit if you do not work," he said. "Who works harder than our soldiers and their families? We see this as an important way of rewarding work, as opposed to promoting dependency."
The state EITC offers an average credit of about $272 a year for most families, which doesn't sound like a lot but, combined with the federal EITC, is enough to keep many families just above the poverty line. It would also affect more than 900,000 nonmilitary families.
The Senate tax plan being debated this week also allows the EITC to expire for low-income families, and it also gradually would eliminate the state tax on corporate income, which generates $5 billion in revenue a year. Freyer said the state EITC costs only a fraction of that, at $105 million annually.
"We are paying for big corporate tax cuts by taking it out of the pockets of military families in our state," he said, "which, we think is bad economics - and it's also, I think, bad morally. "
Supporters of eliminating corporate income tax insist that it is necessary to grow business in the state.
According to a national report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the federal EITC keeps more than 140,000 families nationwide from falling below the poverty line and reduces the severity of poverty for another 800,000 members of military families. That report is online at cbpp.org.
The text of HB 998 is online at openstates.org.
Reporting for this story by North Carolina News Connection in association with Media in the Public Interest. Media in the Public Interest is funded in part by Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation.
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With hotter summers bringing hotter working conditions, the Maryland Department of Labor is implementing a heat stress standard to protect workers but workers' advocates said it falls short on specifics.
In 2020, the Legislature directed the Labor Department to establish new heat stress protections for workers. A draft standard was released in January for indoor or outdoor work environments when the heat index is above 80 degrees.
Darryl Alexander, adviser for the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, said the plan does not establish specifics for monitoring.
"They ought to be required to say how they're going to monitor the workplace for changes in temperature, humidity, heat index," Alexander asserted. "The way they require to monitor the workplace for noise, or chemicals or anything else - that, in their written plans, they have to say how they're going to do it."
Alexander argued ideally, employers would be required to use what's known as a "wet bulb globe temperature meter," which monitors the heat index as well as measuring radiant heat from sources such as ovens or sunlight.
The draft standard requires employers to put an effective heat illness prevention and management plan in writing and provide workers annual heat stress training. When the heat index reaches 90, it requires employers to consider the effects of personal protective equipment on heat stress but there are no specifics on how to do it.
Scott Schneider, another adviser for the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, said how hard you are working and what you are wearing can both contribute to heat stress.
"If you're working and you're wearing impermeable clothing; like you're wearing, like a Tyvek suit, like you're doing asbestos abatement, or if you're out in the fields and you have protective clothing to protect you from pesticide use; that clothing can prevent you from sweating," Schneider noted. "That also will increase your heat stress risk."
He added when calculating heat stress risk, there are methods to account for protective clothing or harder work. He thinks the standard should include specifics on both. The Department of Labor is expected to have the plan finalized by this summer.
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Minnesota is among the states taking a closer look at extending unemployment benefits to workers who go on strike. A bill making its way through the Legislature would make workers involved in a walkout of at least one week eligible for jobless benefits.
In the past year, labor economists have said, there's been positive movement with wage growth. However, backers of Minnesota's plan are pointing to major gaps between corporate profits and the pay most workers receive.
When those individuals want to fight for fair compensation, Jake Schwitzer, executive director of the left-leaning think tank North Star Policy Action, said they're at a big disadvantage in taking on ownership.
"They can use their considerable profits to engage in bad-faith negotiating tactics, and simply wait out their poorly paid workers," he said.
During labor disputes, Schwitzer said, providing unemployment benefits alleviates hardships and empowers workers to keep fighting.
Critics have cited the potential costs and disincentivizing people to work. However, research from Schwitzer's group estimates fewer than 200 additional workers are added to the unemployment rolls in these cases.
Nearly 10 other states have either debated or enacted similar laws.
John Kontzelmann, secretary-treasurer of UAW Local 125, said a walkout is viewed as a last resort, while noting the recent auto workers' strike was a tough choice for many of his colleagues.
"The uncertainty of no or reduced income, for an unknown amount of time, was very stressful and worrying," he said.
Without small levels of assistance from a union strike fund, Kontzelmann said, making ends meet would have been even more challenging for workers and their families.
The Minnesota bill cleared a House committee this week. It's unclear if it will win final legislative approval.
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Critics say a bill passed by West Virginia lawmakers increases the bureaucratic red tape folks who rely on unemployment benefits have to navigate and could financially hurt families already struggling with the high cost of living and ongoing inflation.
Kelly Allen, executive director with the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, said the bill includes new reporting from employers and job research requirements for recipients, but keeps the maximum number of benefits available at 26 weeks.
"Safety-net kind of programs like this, that help bridge families between jobs and keep them economically secure, is a really important tool," Allen said.
Senate Bill 841 also limits the amount of money employers pay into the unemployment fund to $9,500 of an employee's earnings. Supporters of the bill argue the state's trust fund is in peril and say the measure helps save money. The bill goes into effect on July 1.
Allen pointed out that research shows unemployment insurance helps families stay afloat during economic downturns, and provides continuous income for basic household needs. She added that unemployment insurance has also been linked to reduced rates of child abuse and neglect.
"We know that generous unemployment insurance and robust unemployment insurance benefits mitigate the impact that those economic shocks have on families and the data shows can actually reduce child welfare involvement, " Allen continued.
According to state data, the state's unemployment rate was nearly 5% as of the beginning of this year.
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