CURRENT CAMPAIGNS

Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)

Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)

ISSUE:

The Campaign for Economic Justice is currently building statewide grassroots support to help push the Colorado Legislature to make the state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) permanent as well as increase it to 20% of the federal credit.  Unfortunately, the state EITC is tied to the suffocating TABOR amendment of the state constitution.  As a result, no one has received a state EITC since 2001, and it will not be available until at least 2011. We are working to change this!

IMPACT:

Nearly 250,000 families in CO are struggling to make enough ends meet to cover expenses such as food, healthcare, and housing.  The EITC is a flexible tax refund that gives money to hard-working Colorado families to spend as they choose. If raised to 20% of the federal credit, families can receive over $800. Subsequently, the EITC helps put money back into local economies for small business owners to profit.  We know that having a permanent EITC set at 20% of the federal credit will be the first step in helping to eliminate poverty across our state.

Action:

The Campaign for Economic Justice is working to educate Colorado voters, small business owners, and legislators about the importance of raising the EITC to 20% of the federal credit.  For this to be a success, we need your help in raising awareness about the EITC.

For more information about this campaign and the EITC, please check out the following resources:

Where is the EITC in the legislative process? http://www.thebell.org/issues/econ/eitc.php
The Bell Policy Institute provides a legislative update of the EITC in Colorado.

What is TABOR?
http://www.cbpp.org/ssl-series.htm Check out this website from our partner organization, Center on budget Policy and Priorities, to find out more information about our complex and restrictive tax laws.

You can get involved by:

Sending a Letter to Governor Ritter
                                    AND/OR
Sending a postcard to your State Representative Click here to see who your state representative is >>

The Estate Tax 

Issue
The Campaign for Economic Justice is currently fighting attacks on the federal estate tax. The estate tax is levied on assets of a person at death based on their net value at the time of death. When a person dies, all of the property and assets they leave behind are called an estate. The estate is evaluated and taxed before it is transferred to the dead person's heirs. Currently, in CO, only estates valued at $4 million dollars or more are required to pay the estate tax.

Impact
The money generated from the estate tax provides funding for necessary services, such as education, healthcare, and transportation. If we weaken the estate tax in conjunction with other tax loopholes for the wealthy, then Colorado’s working people and families will be prevented from achieving their slice of the American pie.  

The estate tax was enacted in 1916 to restrain the wealth inequality in the United States by taxing the estates of the richest 1 percent when wealth is transferred at death. Did you know that, even with the estate tax, 5 percent of Americans owned 55.5 percent of the nation’s wealth in 2004? Imagine how much more of the wealth would be in their hands if there were no estate tax.

In fact, the Citizens for Tax Justice have conducted research that shows that the poorest 50% of Americans only own 2.5% of the national wealth—down 3.0% over the last 15 years. It has become apparent that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer! This is where the estate tax can help!

Recently, Colorado lawmakers have claimed that the estate tax is an attack on small farmers. However, there are only 215 Taxable estates in CO.  That is only 0.8% of estates in the state! On the national level, 99.7% of Americans ARE NOT REQUIRED TO PAY THE ESTATE TAX!

According to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, the estate tax repeal is estimated to cost nearly three-quarters of a trillion dollars from 2011 – 2020. This is money that can be spent to build up our state and national infrastructures.

Action
With the help of our national partners, the CPC is working to raise awareness about the need to preserve estate tax through a series of press events and media campaigns.
It is really vital that we let our legislators know how much we value the estate tax.

For more information on the estate tax, please check out:

Sen. Salazar should drop farm exemption from estate tax!
Read Jessie’s recent Op-Eds’ on the estate tax
Jessie Ulibarri—Campaign for Economic Justice Director—chronicles the impact
of the estate tax for Colorado’s social service programs.

The Price it Cost to Repeal the Tax!
http://www.cbpp.org/6-5-06tax.htm
This site highlights how much it would cost to repeal the estate tax.

Why the Estate Tax Matters—www.ctj.org
This site run by Citizens for Tax Justice has a lot of great statistics and outlines why the estate tax is worth keeping.
http://www.ctj.org/html/estbob.htm

How to Talk Through the Estate Tax
United for Fair Economy--http://www.faireconomy.org/estatetax/index.html
This website gives a good overview of the estate tax and some helpful talking
points.                

Emergency Campaign for America’s Priorities (ECAP)

As a statewide partner of US Action, the Campaign for Economic Justice is working to challenge the policies enacted by federal lawmakers that have exacerbated economic inequality and weakened services offered to working people and families.  

The Issue
USAction and our affiliates aim to reverse the upside-down priorities in Washington that have exacerbated economic inequality and weakened vital supports for working families. USAction promotes fair taxes because we believe that responsible investments – in health care, education, and the other priorities on which the overwhelming majority of Americans depend – help our economy work for all of us.

We know that America can support quality public schools, expand access to health care, and protect services like Social Security and Medicare only when corporations and individuals pay their fair share. 

Our long-standing commitment to economic justice and tax fairness is evident in our work to preserve the estate tax; close corporate tax loopholes; and support policies that strengthen America's economic stability, reduce inequality, and expand opportunities for workers.

Impact
In 2005 and 2006, USAction and the Emergency Campaign for America’s Priorities repeatedly – and often successfully – opposed efforts by the Republican-controlled Congress to bankrupt critical supports in order to justify huge tax giveaways to multimillionaires and corporate interests.

In the 2006 elections, American voters repudiated President Bush’s agenda of reckless tax breaks and irresponsible budget cuts, and our leadership in ECAP will support the new Congress’ efforts to undo the damage.

Action
With the new leadership in the 110th Congress, many of the worst threats are behind us, but six years of upside-down priorities wreaked significant damage that must be undone.  We hope that, with our guidance, the 2008 federal budget will finally reflect an agenda of investment in America's future.  Such a budget would provide a down payment on high-quality, comprehensive education for all from early childhood through college; quality, affordable health care for all; and a commitment to clean energy and reduced dependence on oil.

For more information, visit www.actnow.org.

Racial Wealth Divide Project

The Campaign for Economic Justice is researching the growing racial wealth divide across the state of Colorado. It is important that we educate each other on how we can close the racial wealth divide within our communities.  Racial wealth divide can be seen in various forms including pay equity, immigrant rights, and even rural poverty.

Our goals for the Racial Wealth Divide Project include:

Deepening the understanding and analysis about the historical and contemporary barriers to wealth creation and its negative impact on society

Lifting up the importance of wealth and wealth-building strategies among communities struggling to attain economic equality

Developing and offering resources - such as workshops, publications, data, policy initiatives, and community empowerment strategies - for community leaders, activists, organizations, media, and the public at large

Helping to create a network of people and groups who want to work to abolish the racial wealth divide in Colorado.

We are now working to collect stories from Coloradoans who feel the heat of racial wealth divide on a daily basis. Please click here to “Share Your Story” with us.

For more information about Racial Wealth Divide and United for Fair Economy, please visit http://racialwealthdivide.org/index.html.

Paycheck Away Project

In its second year, the Paycheck Away Project is gathering first-hand, personal experiences assorted communities across the state on the issues of homelessness, hunger, and inadequate health care access. Currently, there are over 450,000 Colorado families living “paycheck to paycheck.” It is important that their voices and concerns are heard by public officials!
The Paycheck Away Project Tour involves holding town hall meetings throughout Colorado to listen to the personal experiences of community members, local service providers, advocates, and experts to assist in the creation of sustainable solutions to stop the cycle of living from one paycheck to the next.

These voices of Coloradoans living in poverty will be showcased to state lawmakers as a means to alter legislative policies that prevent working families from making ends meet and becoming self sufficient.  The goal is to help create healthier and stronger communities that are free of systemic poverty.

Please come out to a Paycheck Away Meeting in your community if you want to understand more on the changing face of poverty in your area as well as what resources exist to help families escape the clutches of poverty. For more information about the Project as well as how your can become more involved, please visit www.payawayproject.org/

The Campaign for Economic Justice will have a presence at each Paycheck Away Tour Meeting in order to inform citizens about the work we are doing to help combat poverty.