Demonstrators gathered outside Rep. Tom Reed’s Olean office to protest the proposed Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The gathering was coordinated in Corning, New York.
According to information passed out by demonstrators, the proposed action will harm taxpayers in the long run.
Sources claimed that people earning less than $30,000 per year would see a tax increase by 2019, and people earning less than $75,000 per year would see a tax increase by 2027.
They stated that 28 percent of the population would see an overall tax increase within 10 years.
Signs held by protestors claimed tax -payers in the top 1 percent receive “nearly 50 percent” of the benefits.
Many protestors were upset about the implications this proposal would have on college students, teachers, veterans and families with children.
Under this proposal, tuition remission and GI benefits would become taxable income and the elimination of the personal exemption would result in a tax increase of 1.6 trillion over 10 years, hurting primarily families with children.
A handout claimed that repealing the ACA mandate would increase health insurance premiums for most people, result in 13 million people with lost coverage by 2027, national debt would increase by an estimated $1.4 trillion by 2027.
Among the crowd downtown were St. Bonaventure University faculty Lori Clovis, adjunct professor, and Charles Walker, Ph.D., professor emeritus.
“I think that these tax cuts—which are not cuts for everybody—are going to hurt a lot of people in this area,” said Clovis, a member of Citizen’s Action Network for Western New York and Southern Tier Activists for Peace. “Our goal is to help the people in this area.”
Clovis explained that while the proposed tax cuts may help some people, the majority of people from the Olean area would not benefit. The changes to taxability of tuition remission hit home for Clovis.
“I would never have been able to afford to go to grad school,” said Clovis.
Walker was there to support the opposition. His concern was for teachers.
“I’m down here because I think it’s unfair to teachers,” Walker said.
He said teachers are already losing money on materials, and this new tax plan does not allow teachers to deduct expenses in federal filings.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was passed in the House of Representatives on Nov. 16.
If passed in the Senate and signed by the president, it could go into effect as soon as the start of the 2018 fiscal year.
