Pay Us What You Owe Us: Concrete State Solutions to Re-Fund Our Communities
We are in the midst of what many are deeming the largest transfer of wealth in U.S. history from Black, brown and poor communities to the ultra-wealthy. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) estimates that Trump’s 2025 federal tax cuts will result in the richest 1% receiving $117 billion in tax cuts in 2026 alone. The impacts of this transfer will be felt by children in under-resourced classrooms, families who will suffer avoidable deaths due to hospital closures or lack of healthcare, students who will be burdened with more debt to pursue education, and immigrants ripped off the streets by militarized forces whose budgets have ballooned at the expense of the programs poor people need to thrive.
On average, federal dollars contribute over a third of the revenue in state budgets. Thus, federal giveaways to the ultrawealthy create massive budget deficits for our state governments, as well as local governments who depend on federal and state dollars. Across the country, many states are mimicking the actions of the federal government by reducing taxes on the ultra-wealthy and their corporations or enacting austerity measures to further cut the vital public services residents depend on. These actions are justified by the myth that there simply isn’t enough money to fund the programs our communities depend on the most; meanwhile, billionaires and megacorporations continue pocketing record-breaking profits.
Our states have the power to fight back and recuperate the revenue lost by federal giveaways to the wealthiest Americans. Winning state and local revenue campaigns that successfully redistribute wealth and combat austerity will require broad coalitions focused on:
• exposing the ultra-wealthy and megacorporations fueling the crisis in their state; and
• demanding their elected officials choose a side.
The first part of this report outlines the billionaire power grab at the state and local levels, implications of the federal budget on the social services we rely on, and the obscene growth of wealth available at the state and local levels. The second section lays out a menu of progressive revenue solutions, like Digital Ad Tax, Worldwide Combined Reporting, Wealth Tax, and Capital Gains Surtax, as well as ways to curb corporate giveaways and secure common sense investments that allow our communities to thrive. The third section highlights case studies from Bargaining for the Common Good tables in Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and California championing revenue solutions and taking on billionaire and corporate targets.
