California’s liberal Legislature wants to give poor people a lot more money in their state tax refunds each year, including an extra $1,000 for people who earn less than $30,000 a year and have at least one child under 6.
But to do it, they’ll have to agree — at least partially — with Republican President Trump.
Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s spending plan would triple how much the state spends on its earned income tax credit to $1.2 billion, making about 1 million more households eligible to get it. To pay for it, California would have to adopt some of Trump’s 2017 tax overhaul that was despised by Democrats, especially in California, because it capped the amount of state and local tax deductions in a move they say disproportionately hit high-income, high-taxed states.
…”The Trump administration got rid of these loopholes at the federal level to be able to provide a deeper tax cut to corporate America,” said Mike Herald, director of policy advocacy for the Western Center on Law and Poverty. “We’re flipping that on its head. Instead, we’re going to use the same money … to help people who need it the most. I think most of the progressive liberal members of the Legislature are completely comfortable with that.”