Tax Loopholes

ALEC's Efforts to Reshape the Tax Code to Benefit Corporations The bills on this page represent ALEC corporations' efforts to create Big Business tax giveaways, to give tax breaks to the rich, and to eviscerate state legislatures' ability to raise revenue through tax increases. These "model bills" are drafted at American Legislative Exchange Council conventions with input from, and approval by, Big Business, then introduced in state legislatures to limit educational opportunities for all Americans. Politicians are elected to represent the people, not corporations; through ALEC, corporations have both a VOICE and a VOTE on specific state laws. Do you?

READ the "Model Bills" HERE Click here to download a zip file of all the tax and fiscal policy bills. To see a full list of bills from this section and download them individually, click here. For descriptions of some of these bills, scroll down or click here. Join the Conversation! Who Is Behind ALEC? No id supplied for Twitter account! Corporations & politicians on ALEC's boards Who heads each ALEC "Task Force" Staff & "experts"

How YOU Can Expose ALEC & Share What You Learn SPREAD THE WORD. Share this information through FACEBOOK, EMAIL, AND TWITTER. Concerned groups and people in every state need this to investigate how ALEC corporations are rewriting laws for their own advantage. EXPOSE ALEC LEGISLATORS. Demand the truth about which politicians in your state are in ALEC. Uncover whether YOUR tax dollars are paying ALEC "dues." Expose politicians who accept “scholarships” from ALEC's corporate-funded coffers for fancy trips. EXPOSE ALEC'S ROLE IN YOUR STATE HOUSE. Read these corporate-backed "model bills" NOW and cross-check them with bills in your state legislature. Ask your local media to report on what you have found and write your local newspaper. SHARE YOUR DISCOVERIES. Tell us what about what you uncovered! Tweet what you learn with the hashtag #ALECExposed or join the "Community Discussion" or email a confidential tip via tipline AT ALECexposed.org. Act today to help your family, friends, and fellow Americans better understand how global corporations are trying to rewrite your rights. Get the Goods on ALEC's Agenda ALEC funding and spending (here) ALEC connections to David and Charles Koch, the oil billionaires (here) Proposals to change the rules for workers, including unions (here) Industry-specific agendas, like oil companies (here) and the health insurance industry (here)

Learn MORE about the "Model Bills" that Are Attempting to Rewrite YOUR Rights The Center for Media and Democracy has annotated the "model legislation" politicians and corporations voted on, and we will be adding our analysis to this page and other publications, such as our sister sites, PRWatch and SourceWatch. Please bookmark this page and check the boxes below for updates on analysis and information. How Corporations Tried Reshaping the Tax Code in Their Favor Corporations, Big Business, and Banksters VOTED to reshape the tax code in their favor by: Requiring a majority vote of U.S. electors before increasing taxes or spending Calling for repeal of the estate tax, which only taxes very large estates (over $5 million / $10 million for couples) and draws government revenue off perpetuation of wealth and inequality Limiting states' ability to raise revenue by indexing tax brackets to inflation] (but in other bills opposing the use of inflation to increase the minimum wage) Providing talking points for how to oppose local taxation efforts Supporting extension of the Bush tax cuts that contributed to the federal deficit and exacerbated wealth inequality Supporting repeal (rather than reform) of the Alternative Minimum Tax, a tax designed to prevent the very wealthy from avoiding taxes, but after the Bush tax cuts lowered marginal tax rates without changing the AMT rates, swept-in some middle-class households; ALEC supports extending the Bush tax cuts, but would rather do away with the AMT rather than reform it Eliminating the Capitol Gains tax (the tax on profits from investments), protecting wealthy investors (Wisconsin adopted this in 2011 and the South Carolina legislature is considering it) Supporting a “flat tax” that would reverse America’s history of progressive taxation through: state-level business and personal income flat tax, and giving state-level taxpayers the “option” to pay a flat tax supporting a federal flat tax Prohibiting state governments from increasing revenue as the economy improves through: automatically adjusting individual and corporate tax rates downward if tax revenue collected in previous years had increased above a certain percent (8H2), squeezing government and forcing cuts promoting a constitutional amendment capping revenue and spending, and requiring that collections above the limit be transferred into an Emergency Reserve Fund, severely limiting a state's ability to respond to price increases (for example, a double digit rise in health care costs). “Restricting the use of vehicle fees and taxes for highway purposes” through a state Constitutional Amendment requiring that revenues from gas taxes and vehicle-related fees be used for highways, rather than investment in less fossil-fuel dependent rail transit or bike lanes. The proposed ALEC Amendment has been adopted in 29 states (eight of which copied the ALEC language verbatim). A constitutional amendment requiring that all tax and “license fee” increases be approved by a 2/3 majority in each house (unless the state cannot pay interest on its debt), severely restricting the ability to raise revenue Providing talking points for tax reduction Opposing “windfall profits” taxes on energy companies like Exxon Mobil and BP, which have had record earnings in recent years. “Removing incentives for investigating and prosecuting tax cheats” Supporting federal legislation that limits all spending to the rate of inflation Other Helpful Resources Here are links to reports by reporters and advocates that have been challenging the ALEC corporate agenda: (CMD is not affiliated with these other organizations. If you would like to be listed as a resource, please contact us.) The American Legislative Exchange Council, on the Center for Media and Democracy's SourceWatch.org (wiki) and A CMD Special Report: Who Is the League of American Voters?, by the Center for Media and Democracy's PRWatch.org (March 2011) (PLACEHOLDER) Ghostwriting the Law for Corporate America, by the American Association for Justice (May 2010) Corporate America's Trojan Horse in the States: The Untold Story Behind the American Legislative Exchange Council, by the Defenders of Wildlife and the Natural Resources Defense Council (March 2002) ALEC: The Voice of Corporate Special Interests In State Legislatures, by People for the American Way (May 2011) Wisconsin's Cronon Affair: The Power of a Simple Fact, by The Nation (March 2011) Wolves in Sheep's Clothing, by Common Cause (August 2006) Conservative Corporate Advocacy Group ALEC Behind Voter Disenfranchisement Efforts' by the Center for American Progress and Campus Progress (March 2011) Did You Know about these Bills? Some of this Corporate Agenda Has Already Become Law Under the administration of Wisconsin Governor (and ALEC alum) Scott Walker, several changes to the state tax code were drawn from the ALEC corporate wish list in 2011. For example, Governor Walker and the state legislature: Eliminated the capital gains tax, as called for in the ALEC "Capital Gains Tax Elimination Act.” Wisconsin Republicans led by Rep. Garey Bies (R-1) introduced SB 10 in 2011 which phases out the taxation of capital gains, but the action was superceeded by the Wisconsin budget bill which excludes 100% of the capital gains realized on investment s in Wisconsin for 5 years, costing Wisconsin approximately $79 million per year (according to analysis by the AFL-CIO). An additional exclusion from income tax for capital gains will amount to $36 million per year. Eliminated combined reporting, which is designed to prevent corporations from hiding profits by filtering income through subsidiaries in states with no income tax (like Nevada). The same principle was set forth in the ALEC “Resolution in Opposition to Mandatory Unitary Combined Reporting." Requiring a super-majority to raise taxes, as called for in the ALEC "Super-Majority Act;" passed as a law rather than a constitutional amendment, it may be non-binding. Gov. Walker thanked the State Chair of ALEC in Wisconsin, Rep. Leah Vukmir, for her work on the bill. To learn more about this story, click here (PLACEHOLDER) (Have any of these bills been introduced or enacted in YOUR state? If so, please add that information to the ALEC Exposed page on your state by searching for your state's name in the search engine at the top of this page.) Limiting Damages for the Loss of Your Child, Spouse, or Parent (PLACEHOLDER)One of the corporate-politician proposals of ALEC would limit the ability of a family to recover for emotional damages due to the death or injury of a loved one. (LINK) This type of legislation basically makes working class or poor people's lives--as well as the elderly--worth less to their families because any damages for pain and suffering due to the death of a child, spouse, or parent would be limited to an amount equal to their loved one's lost earnings and medical expenses. These kind of corporate provisions try to prevent a jury of YOUR peers from awarding you damages for all you have lost or suffered AFTER a jury finds that your loved one's death was the result of corporate negligence, misconduct, or greed. Is a local legislator who was elected to represent YOU actually protecting the profits of global corporate wrongdoers through such legislation instead of YOU and YOUR FAMILY? Barring Corporate Liability for Killing Your Dog or Cat (PLACEHOLDER)In addition to limiting the rights of people injured by corporations, under the guise of limiting "frivolous" litigation in 2006, one of the proposals would make it harder for you to obtain any compensation from a company whose negligence killed your family pet.(LINK) In 2009, Americans learned that many U.S. pet food companies had shipped the production of food for their four-legged companions overseas and that Chinese contractors had contaminated the pet food with melamine in order to increase profit margins, resulting in the death and serious injuries of numerous dogs and cats in the U.S. If passed in your state, ALEC's corporation-backed proposal would make it very difficult for YOU to recover any damages for the loss of your beloved animal companion due to corporate negligence or misconduct in manufacturing food for America's beloved pets. ALEC Exposed is a project of the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD). CMD does NOT accept donations from for-profit corporations or government agencies. More information about CMD is available here. You can reach the publisher of ALEC Exposed, CMD's Executive Director, Lisa Graves, via editor AT alecexposed.org. Worker and Consumer Rights · Tort Reform and Injured Americans · Privatizing Schools and Higher Ed Policy · Health, Pharmaceuticals and Safety Net Programs · Environment, Energy and Agriculture · Democracy, Voter Rights and Federal Power · Taxes and Budgets · Guns, Prisons, Crime and Immigration