ALERT: DeWine poised to raise taxes on middle class today

ALERT: Mike DeWine Poised to Raise Taxes on Middle Class Today

Dems Warn DeWine: You Will Regret Voting to Hike Taxes on Middle Class Families
 

For Immediate Release                                                          May 11, 2006

Contact: Brian Rothenberg,                                                 Phone: 614-221-6563

               Communications Director

With Mike DeWine expected to vote in favor of a tax bill this afternoon that would raise taxes on Ohio’s working families, Democrats warned DeWine that his support for the legislation will come back to haunt him in November.

“If Mike DeWine was looking for a way to antagonize Ohio voters even more than he already has, raising their taxes while cutting them for millionaires is a pretty good start,” said Brian Rothenberg, Communications Director of the Ohio Democratic Party. “Mike DeWine thinks it’s more important to side with millionaires than it is to help average Ohio families and he’s going to rue the day he ever voted for this legislation.”

DeWine Vote Would Raise Taxes on Ohio Families, College Students and Teachers. This afternoon, the Senate will vote on a $70 billion tax package that extends a number of George Bush’s tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans, namely the reduced tax rate on capital gains and corporate dividends that is not set to expire until 2009.  By prioritizing these provisions, Republicans left no room for a range of other expiring or expired tax cuts, including tuition relief, cuts for teachers who buy supplies out of their own pockets for their classrooms and incentives to put money into retirement accounts. [Vote #135, 5/10/06; MarketWatch, 5/9/06; Congressional Record, 5/9/06]

EXCLUDED: Tuition Deduction That More Than 134,000 Ohio Students Benefited From in 2003. According to the Senate Finance Committee, 134,885 Ohio students and families saved nearly $287 million from the expiring tuition and fees deduction in 2003. Making matters even worse, tuition and fees at Ohio University have increased 69 percent since 2000 and the average student borrower leaves school saddled with $20,000 in debt.  [Senate Finance Committee Press Release, 11/7/05; IRS Data, October 2005; Chronicle of Higher Education, 2005-2006; State PIRG’s Higher Education Project]

EXCLUDED: Educator Expenses Deduction That Benefited More Than 127,000 Ohio Teachers in 2003. In 2003, 127,762 Ohio teachers saved $30 million from the educator expenses tax deduction, which allows teachers to deduct to $250 of out-of-pocket expenses they pay for books and classroom supplies. [IRS Data, October 2005; IRS Tax Tip]

EXCLUDED: Retirement Saver’s Tax Credits That Benefited More Than 25,000 Ohioans in 2003. In 2003, 250,655 Ohioans used the Small Savers Tax Credit to save more than $47.9 million in taxes.  The Small Savers credit allows lower-income families to deduct up to 50% of the contributions they put into retirement plans. [IRS Data, October 2005; Kansas City Star, 4/3/05]

Voinovich: DeWine’s Position “Immoral.”  In February, Sen. George Voinovich said that extending President Bush’s tax cuts on capital gains and corporate dividends, as DeWine is expected to do, would be “immoral.”  [Columbus Dispatch, 2/2/06]

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