Senator Helmy advocates for working families in tax policy hearing

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator George Helmy (D-NJ) this week participated in the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Policy’s hearing entitled “Tax Policy in 2025: Implications for the American Economy.”

During the hearing, Senator Helmy highlighted how our tax policy reflects our priorities as a nation, and how it should benefit hardworking Americans, not the super wealthy or largest corporations. Senator Helmy stated, “policy positions are an explanation of priorities, and either you are prioritizing the consolidation of opportunity or you are looking to expand this country’s economic wealth and growth from the middle class out.”

Senator Helmy criticized the 2017 Trump tax cuts that disproportionately benefited the wealthy instead of the middle class, stating, “Since the tax cuts, America’s billionaires are now collectively worth a record $6 trillion, a wealth that has more than doubled since the Trump tax cuts. Researchers from the Federal Reserve and Joint Committee on Taxation have concluded that zero percent of gains went to the bottom 90 percent of workers.”

Instead of favoring more tax cuts for America’s top earners, Senator Helmy focused on tax credits for working families. He asked Ms. Shuler, President of AFL-CIO, about the importance of the Child Tax Credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit to the union members she represents, and asked Mr. Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League, about ways to use the code to address our nation’s housing affordability crisis. “Again, thinking about priorities, are we prioritizing those who have already doubled their wealth in the last seven years, or the working class,” the Senator asked.

Finally, Senator Helmy highlighted inequality in property taxes paid by White and non-White homeowners and how the State and Local Tax deduction helps address this problem by encouraging homeownership and wealth building in Black and Brown communities.