CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Many huge, profitable corporations pay no state taxes, according to a new report from Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy.

The report looks at 300 Fortune 500 companies that made a profit every year from 2008 to 2012 and found at least 90 of them paid no taxes to any state for one of the past six years.

Sean O'Leary, policy analyst with the West Virginia Center on Budget & Policy, says those corporations used the same kinds of loopholes and tax cuts that put West Virginia in the red this year.

He says cutting those taxes has been a mistake.

"They don't create jobs in the state,” O'Leary maintains. “They just funnel money out of the state into large, profitable, out-of-state-corporations.

“And for the ones we do give away in West Virginia, we do very little to evaluate to see if they are actually working."

Matt Gardner, director of the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy, says state corporate tax breaks shift the tax burden to working families, at a time when few can afford it.

"That so many companies are finding ways to zero out their tax when middle-income families don't have that luxury should prompt lawmakers in every state to ask hard questions about what tax breaks these companies are claiming and whether these tax breaks ought to be reformed," he says.

Industry lobbyists argue that state lawmakers should cut corporate taxes to entice companies to locate or expand in the state.

But O'Leary says in fact those decisions are determined by labor, materials and transportation costs, or consumer demand.

He says state and local taxes are just too small to matter for most firms.

"Less than two percent, in most cases, of those total costs,” he points out. “That slice of the pie is not going to drive the decision.

“The decision is going to be driven by infrastructure, access to markets, customer base, and production materials that are available."





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NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Connecticut's economy has shrunk since the 2008 Great Recession, and combined with highly inequitable wage distribution, that has led to a decrease in quality of life for some families in the state.

That's according to an annual report from Connecticut Voices for Children that looked at how workers and the state's economy are faring overall.

For this year's report, they analyzed data comparing job and economic growth in the state from 2007 to 2019, and then again during the pandemic-induced recession from February to April 2020.

Lead report author and Connecticut Voices for Children Research and Policy Fellow Patrick O'Brien said it shows that the 2020 recession did make the state of the economy worse, but that many of these problems weren't new.

"We never really fully recovered from the Great Recession," said O'Brien. "And so when you look at all these different time frames, we can see that Connecticut's economy has really been struggling for more than a decade and the coronavirus recession basically exacerbated this."

Job growth was an issue in Connecticut prior to the pandemic as well. According to the report, the state saw only a 2.7% increase in jobs between 1990 and 2020, compared with the U.S. seeing a 39.4% increase overall.

Another concern reflected in the report includes wage inequality - including a racial wealth gap - with Connecticut's greater than the U.S. as a whole. According to the report, a typical Black worker in 2019 made about $15 dollars an hour, nearly $6 dollars less than the typical worker in the state.

Some policy solutions O'Brien suggested include progressive budget changes, such as tax reforms that shift the disproportionate burden away from the lower and middle class and on to wealthier residents.

"So you could boost the economy essentially by giving a more fair share to working and middle-class families," said O'Brien. "And so we talk about how you can use the budget to make sure that working and middle-class families are better off, then they're going to spend that money directly into the economy here and that'll help pump up economic growth."

The report in the long-term also suggests Connecticut increase its spending on universal early child care and education to spur economic growth.

RICHMOND, Va. - As U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., takes heat this week for attending a posh fundraiser in a dress that said "Tax the Rich," dozens of wealthy taxpayers have requested just that, in a letter sent to Congress.

More than 200 millionaires and business leaders, including two prominent Virginians, say they feel raising their taxes is essential to cover critical social investments in President Joe Biden's Build Back Better plan.

Sandra Fluke, president of Voices for Progress, the group that organized the letter campaign, said a recent report confirms many billionaires and corporations pay no taxes. She said she thinks it's more fair for those who have the most to pay more in taxes, since they benefit more.

"We have situations where we are taxing the pay that someone receives, their salary from working a job, more than we are taxing the profits that are made on investments," she said, "and that's just wrong."

A recent survey found that 68% of Virginia voters support Biden's $3.5 trillion plan, and more than two-thirds said it should be funded by taxing those making more than $400,000 a year. Joan Huffer, a well-known tax policy expert and philanthropist from Northern Virginia, also signed the letter.

This week, a group of House Democrats released a draft plan to raise the corporate tax rate from 21% to 26.5% percent for large, profitable businesses to help pay for Biden's plan. Fluke said that would go a long way to help fund new spending in areas including health care and clean energy.

"Child-care affordability, and home- and community-based care, and paid leave, fighting climate change and protecting all of us from natural disasters are good investments," she said, "investments that will help to rebuild our economy and strengthen our democracy."

The letter mentioned that the wealth of 700 billionaires rose by 60% during the pandemic, while many working families suffered. The signers said it's up to those who became richer in the health crisis, and whose lifestyles would be only marginally affected, to fix the imbalance.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - The pandemic is shining a new light on the burdens felt by family caregivers, and a bill in Congress would remove some of the financial pressure for people providing unpaid care to family members. South Dakota advocates are joining the push for approval.

The Credit for Caring Act proposes a federal tax credit of up to $5,000 for eligible family caregivers.

Erik Nelson, associate state director for advocacy at AARP South Dakota, said families are the backbone of the long-term care system - and given the added challenges they've faced during the pandemic, it's time for lawmakers to step up and help them.

"In addition to the direct out-of-pocket spending, caregivers are also experiencing indirect financial setbacks," he said, "and so, it's important to not have them have to dip into personal spending or personal savings to support their family members."

AARP estimates the average family caregiver spends about $7,000 a year on out-of-pocket expenses. The bill has bipartisan support, but Nelson said its biggest obstacle is the other pressing needs facing federal lawmakers right now. An estimated 90,000 South Dakotans are family caregivers.

Nelson said the help these caregivers provide often can go unnoticed. He added that many of them still hold down a regular job, and don't see their caregiving as "extra work."

"Even if it means coming over and cleaning the house or making sure bills are paid, to much more intensive acts that caregivers do," he said, "it's important for them to be recognized."

Nelson said the bill will see some major focus next week, as AARP makes a targeted push in support of the tax credit. The proposal has support from other organizations as well, including the Alzheimer's Association and the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging.