Sample state leg flyer for Taxpayer's Act
Taxpayers Deserve to Know How Congress Spends Our Income Tax Dollars
Help pass the Taxpayers Information and Communication Act
The largest tax burden on most Mass households is their federal income taxes. For 2017 the average Mass Household tax bill was more than $19,600.
These taxes provide the core of the annual $1.15 trillion dollar Congressional discretionary Budget. A great variety of Massachusetts housing, healthcare, transportation, education and environmental protection programs depend on the many $billions of these dollars that are returned to the state. Almost 30% of the entire Commonwealth Budget comes from federal funds.
The IRS provides hundreds of guides and reports devoted to federal income taxes. Despite the enormous attention given to the paying of our income taxes, citizens are essentially left in the dark with respect to the spending of these tax dollars by Congress: No agency of the federal government reports directly back to taxpayers how their tax dollars were spent in the prior year budget – not the IRS, not the Treasury Department, nor either branch of Congress.
Similarly no branch of the state government provides this information, even though many branches, such as transportation, education, housing and human services, receive significant funds from the federal government
We believe that if citizens knew how their tax dollars were being spent - for example that more than half goes to Pentagon accounts – their views on budget priorities would change.
Many Mass municipalities send their residents annual reports on how their property taxes are spent. Taxpayers need similar information with respect to their federal income taxes. Unfortunately in the current Congress there is little chance of legislation mandating such transparency. However the Commonwealth can do this at very low cost, given the value of the information to Mass residents. For example it is very difficult to mobilize residents in opposition to federal budget cuts affecting Massachusetts, if they are not knowledgeable about the budget contributions.
To this end we are submitting a Taxpayers Information and Communication Act to the State Legislature, from lead sponsors [Denise Provost, Mike Connolly, Kay Khan, Pat Jehlen, ….. and …] . This simply instructs the State Sec’y of Administration and Finance to send a yearly report to Mass taxpayers on how the Congress spent their tax dollars in the prior budget year, in some simple format pie chart or bar graph format. Please e-mail your state Representative and State Senator and ask them to be cosponsors. You can follow that simple request with the explanation above.
A project of Mass Peace Action, the People’s Budget Campaign, and the Institute for People’s Engagement.
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