Central KY Chapter Member Sarah Martin was among a group of folks with low-wage work experience who went to Washington, D.C. in April to lobby for closing corporate tax loopholes and raising the minimum wage. Right now, these corporate tax loopholes exist as the "tax extenders" that Sarah will reference in this blog. Congress isn't expected to act on these until after the election.
Corporate tax loopholes also exist as "inversions." (Hang in there, and remember, tax policies language is wonky to keep us away!) Those "inversions" recently allowed Pfizer to claim itself as a United Kingdom company, thereby avoiding paying taxes in the U.S. With that in mind, Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) and 13 Senate co-sponsors (including Sen. Elizabeth Warren), and Representative Sander Levin (D-MI) with nine House co-sponsors, introduced companion bills yesterday to close these “inversion” loopholes.
We hope to learn more, and track the involvement of Kentucky's delegation. In the meantime, check out Sarah's story about why she went to Washington, and why she'll go back.
It’s 8 AM on a Monday morning and as our bus creeps through D.C. traffic, CKY Chapter Member Greg Capillo, CKY Chapter Organizer Beth Howard, and myself have a quick breakfast. We think we are on our way to the White House to participate in a direct action regarding immigration reform and deportation policies. While that plan is true, there is a “quick” stop to make before we arrive at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. It turns out that we are on our way to a secret action. We are told to not broadcast any information on social media or to communicate with anyone what we’re doing until the action is complete. We are also told that when the buses arrive, we need to exit as quickly as possible, and that conference staff, in fluorescent vests, will direct us to run inside of the building to gather in the lobby.
The chapter set up two food stations, a KFTC informational table with KFTC merchandise, and a spacious eating pavilion.
