Having made its way through the House, the tax bill is scheduled to go before the Senate for a vote in the coming days. If adopted, the tax bill could mean major setbacks for Latinos in health and income inequality.
Latinos have the second-lowest median income of all ethnic groups and would consequently have virtually nothing, or very little, to gain from the proposed tax cuts to the rich. Under the proposed bill, tax credits for middle class and working poor families, which serve as safety nets for many Latino families, would remain stagnant or be cut.
The GOP-led Congress has already approved a budget that severely slashes spending on the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Medicare and Medicaid. The tax bill, which proposes a cut in the tax rate for corporations of $1.5 trillion, would continue to chip away at years of progress in health accessibility for millions of seniors, children, and people with disabilities, many of which are Latino. When it comes to income and wealth disparities between Latinos and White Americans, the proposed GOP plan would only exacerbate the racial wealth gap and lift inequality growth.
Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke took a strong stance against the proposed tax plan saying, “The GOP tax plan is nothing more than a massive transfer of wealth to the richest Americans at the expense of working families and underserved communities.”
The new tax bill would eliminate the estate tax, costing an estimated $200 billion. This addition would in large part exclude any benefit to Latinos or other communities of color as the targets of systemic disenfranchisement who have historically not been given equal opportunity to earn money and let it compound.
Recent Comments