Brown Speaks at Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center’s Event on ‘Fighting Poverty and the Rising Cost of Living’

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) spoke at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center’s event on ‘Fighting Poverty and the Rising Cost of Living’. At the event, Brown served as a keynote speaker and discussed his Working Families Tax Relief Act to cut taxes for workers and families by expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC). EITC and CTC are two of the most effective tools we have to put money in the pockets of working people and pull children out of poverty. Expanding them will give millions more Americans a foothold in the middle class. 

In April, Brown led 46 Democrats to introduce this bill in the Senate. More than 80 national and local organizations have thrown their support behind the bill. Last week, U.S. Congressman Dan Kildee (MI-05), introduced the House companion bill to the Senate Working Families Tax Relief Act.  

Brown’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, are below:

Sen. Brown’s Remarks: Fighting Poverty and the Rising Cost of Living 

Thank you to Chris Hughes and Dorian Warren with the Economic Security Project. Thank you to everyone with the Urban Institute, Brookings, and the Tax Policy Center. And thank you to all of the groups who helped us build support for a tax policy that puts people first – the Center for American Progress, the Center on Budget and MomsRising. 

Too often, people act like Democrats have to choose between exciting our based by fighting for progressive values, or promoting an economic agenda with broad appeal. We know that’s a false choice. It is not either/or – it’s both. 

Progressive economic ideas do have broad appeal. The dignity of work is a value that unites all of us. Ohio showed the country in 2018 that a progressive can win in a state Trump carried without ever compromising on workers’ rights and voting rights and civil rights, and women’s rights and LGBTQ rights. 

Donald Trump likes to brag about the economy – but we know the unemployment rate and the stock market don’t tell the whole story. Families don’t measure their lives in quarterly earnings reports.

We can win people over with an economic message that speaks to the reality of their lives. 

The Dignity of work means hard work should pay off for everyone, no matter who you are or what kind of work you do: Whether you punch a clock or swipe a badge, earn a salary, or make tips; whether you’re raising children or caring for an aging parent. 

Dignity of work is a message that speaks to everyone. It’s not just a campaign slogan – it’s who we are and it’s how we govern. 

When work has dignity, people are paid a living wage – one job should be enough. 

When work has dignity, people have power over their lives and schedules. 

They can afford quality healthcare, childcare, housing and education, and don’t need a payday loan to make ends meet. 

And we can’t accomplish any of that without a tax code that puts people first. 

When people filed their taxes this year, they began to see President Trump and Congressional Republicans’ tax scam for what it really was – a handout to billionaires at the expense of working families. 

It’s all part of the president’s phony populism – he divides Americans to distract from the fact that his administration looks like a retreat for Wall Street. 

True populism is never racist. It’s never anti-Semitic. Populists don’t pass tax cuts for rich people and leave out workers and children.

We fight back with true populism – and a tax vision that invests in workers and families. 

First, Senator Durbin and I introduced a pair of bills earlier this year to encourage corporations to invest in their workers. 

Our The Patriot Employer Tax Credit Act would provide a tax credit to companies that provide fair wages and good benefits to workers. And our Corporate Freeloader Fee would force mega-corporations that pay their workers so little that they’re forced onto government assistance to reimburse American taxpayers. 

Second, we know that people need help keeping up with the cost of living. 

Productivity is up, corporate profits have soared, executive compensation has exploded, and stock buybacks are at record levels– but wages are largely flat. 

Meanwhile, the cost of everything is up – health care, child care, college, prescription drugs. One in four renters spends more than half their income on housing. That’s why I’m going to be rolling out a Renters Tax Credit this summer. 

The number one tool we have to help Americans keep up with all these expenses is expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit. These are the two of the most effective ways to get money into the pockets of the American people.

There are a number of bills to get us there – but the most important accomplishment is that we have virtually every single Democrat united behind this vision. 

We have 46 cosponsors on one of our Senate bills, and Congressman Kildee introduced the House version last week. 

We’re all united around a couple of goals: 

• We need to make sure that every child gets the full credit, regardless what their parents do. President Trump and Republicans in Congress left out 26 million children – including half of all Black and Hispanic kids, and 42 percent of children living in rural areas. But having a family shouldn’t be a luxury only for rich people.

• At the same time, we need to make sure that workers without children share in the Earned Income Tax Credit. They should not be able to be taxed into poverty.  

• And we should allow everyone to get an advance on their EITC payment, so they don’t have to turn to shady payday lenders when the car breaks down. 

When we unite behind a common purpose and fight for the people we serve, we win – that’s what happened in 2013, 2014, and 2015. 

Republicans wanted to push through a bunch of tax cuts for corporations. With the help of Nancy Pelosi and many of you in this room, we united Democrats and said, “no tax cuts for corporations without tax cuts for working families.” We demanded they make President Obama’s expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit permanent, and got President Obama to issue a veto threat. 

It took three years, but we got it done, and we helped give millions of Americans a foothold in the middle class. 

We didn’t do it by moving to the middle, by moderating or watering down our goals. We did it by uniting behind a common purpose – by saying this is who we are and who we fight for, and we are never backing down. 

And working together, we can do that again. That’s why your work is so important over the next couple of months. 

Dr. King said that “progress never rolls in on the wheels of inevitability.” 

It rolls in because the people in this room never give up on fighting for workers and families, because if you love this country, you fight for the people who make it work.

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