Ronald Reagan was right.  The Republican icon believed that one of the best anti-poverty measures government could promote was something called the Earned Income Tax Credit.  Bill Clinton took on Reagan’s cause and expanded the federal EITC and poverty rates dropped – in part due to this tool (sadly, those rates have risen again under the current administration’s economic policies). 

Oregon families living below the poverty level need their own tax cut to help lift them out of poverty and, as Kevin Finney said in an e-mail last week and today during the Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon (EMO) Public Policy Committee meeting that I attended in Salem, expanding Oregon’s own version of the EITC is in reach this legislative session:

Do you know that many Oregon families whose income is below the poverty level have to pay state income tax on their meager earnings? Two bills in the state Legislature this session would eliminate state income tax requirements for most Oregon families below the poverty line by expanding the value of the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). The EITC is a carefully targeted tax credit designed to help low-income working families, and is especially helpful in reducing poverty among children. Not everyone knows that there is both a federal EITC and a state EITC here in Oregon. If you are eligible for the federal EITC then you are automatically eligible for the state EITC. The value of the state EITC is currently set at 5 percent of the value of the federal credit and will increase to 6 percent in 2008. Two bills this session, HB 3023 (Rosenbaum) and HB 2298 (Komp), would double the value of the state EITC by setting it at 12 percent of the value of the federal credit. Both bills would also make the state EITC a permanently refundable tax credit, which is particularly important for getting aid to the poorest working families. A hearing on these bills was held in April in the House Revenue Committee and resulted in the establishment of a working group made up of Representatives Butler, Read and Rosenbaum. They are meeting weekly with advocates for the expanded EITC to come up with a method of funding this expansion of the state EITC. Please contact your state representatives and let them know you support expanding the state Earned Income Tax Credit to help low-income working families.

I urge you to join EMO and others in the faith community in supporting this legislation.  Click here to contact your representatives.