Public budgets are moral documents that reflect our values and priorities through decisions on how to tax residents and businesses and spend these collective resources. These decisions impact what families have to spend on basic needs and invest in their future, define the size of the government and its role in the national economy, and affect the lives of all Americans. EOF hosts an Annual Budget and Tax Briefing to explore why federal and state budget and tax work matters to national, state, and local philanthropy.
See a summary of the final plenary session from our 2023 Budget and Tax Briefing below.
Working Together to Shape Upcoming Budget and Tax Debates
Over the next several years, trillions of dollars in tax cuts are set to expire, more than $25 billion remains to be spent in federal recovery dollars, and federal recovery investments in education, health, and child care will end. Learn more about initiatives underway working to coordinate efforts at the federal and state level and prepare for the budget and tax fights ahead.
Erica Clemmons Dean
Director of Advocacy and Programs
Family Values @ Work
Meg Fosque
Program Officer, Economic Policy Investments and Grantmaking, Equity & Economic Opportunity
The Rockefeller Foundation
Charles Khan
Lead, Tax & Wall St. Campaigns, Center For Popular Democracy
Organizing Director, Strong Economy for All Coalition
Amy K. Matsui,
Director of Income Security and Senior Counsel
National Women’s Law Center
Framing:
Roughly $1.8 billion is spent each year on tax lobbying, largely by private groups seeking to lower their taxes. As a result, many corporations avoid paying billions of dollars in federal income taxes and receive tax rebates while measures that would reduce the tax burden on lower-income Americans face opposition in federal and state legislatures. Given this opposition, advocates need support in implementing their strategies to raise revenues and build a more just and equitable tax system.
Recap:
Panelists emphasized that sustained organizing around advocating for changes to the tax code requires a long-term strategy and long-term funding. For a continued effort to take place, advocates and funders may also need to reconsider what a “win” is. For example, even if the desired legislation does not pass, if a larger base of invested voters has been built and can be mobilized for future action, that still benefits long-term goals.
An element of this sustained strategy must include developing meaningful and lasting relationships with communities beyond when campaign work is taking place. Establishing advocates as trusted messengers requires time and resources. Communities need to understand these activists are there to support them continually on issues that matter to them.
Maintaining a sustained level of funding will also help prevent burnout among activists. Grassroots organizations are able to pay for large numbers of organizers when they experience high levels of funding during campaigns, but then have to pare down their staff once the campaign ends. As a result, the remaining staff are more prone to burn out.
A sustained strategy at the grassroots level requires ongoing investment. This investment is made possible when on-the-ground advocacy groups and funding organizations are able to collaborate toward a shared long-term goal.
We need to invest in people, education, and child care. We can’t amplify that message enough. That’s what’s needed to build back more power and community organizing.
— Erica Clemmons Dean, Family Values @ Work
We have to invest more in state tax campaigns because states are the laboratory of democracy and the laboratory of power building.
— Charles Khan, Center for Popular Democracy and Strong Economy for All Coalition
The modern tax code was mostly written by elite white men, and that is reflected in tax policies that do not benefit women, people of color, and families…We want to reshape the tax code so that it advances equity instead.
— Amy K. Matsui, National Women’s Law Center
Related Resources:
- Tax Container Initiative Overview, April 2023.
- Talking Points: Raising Revenues: Why Taxes Matter for Care Advocates, National Women’s Law Center, March 22, 2023.
- Talking Points: Prioritizing Women and Families Over Deficits: It’s Time to Reject Austerity, National Women’s Law Center, March 14, 2023.
- Tax the Patriarchy Tax Calculator, National Women’s Law Center, Updated March 2023.