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| Statehood Greens Criticize Mayor's Proposed FY2005 Budget Plan, Call for Alternative. |
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THE D.C. STATEHOOD GREEN PARTY Contact: Statehood Green activists and candidates call for an alternative that offers relief to working and low-income D.C. residents. WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Leaders and candidates of the D.C. Statehood Green Party spoke out in criticism of the proposed FY2005 budget for Washington, D.C., on Monday, April 19, and recommended an alternative proposal that would relieve many D.C. residents. "The Mayor's proposed Budget for FY 2005... translates into under-funding of essential programs for the majority of our residents while preserving and even making more regressive our local tax structure that bears heaviest on those with the least ability to pay," said David Schwartzman, chair of the Statehood Green Party's Tax and Budget Working Group, in testimony before D.C. Council's Committee of the Whole on Monday. "Many low income services would be funded at levels, adjusting for inflation, significantly below 1990. These programs include affordable housing, DHS [Department of Human Services], employment services, and health (non-Medicaid)." Mr. Schwartzman, calling Mayor Williams' proposal an "obvious attempt to shortchange our low income residents," recommended for an alternative plan: "The latest figures available from IRS give $2 billion as the taxable income for D.C. residents with incomes at $1 million or above and they continue to pay an effective rate of less than 6% in local taxes while low and middle income families pay 8.5 to 11%. If for the last five years the wealthiest residents were taxed at the same rate as those with low income, the District would now have hundreds of millions of revenue to restore and expand these programs." Statehood Greens have strongly opposed the Mayor's budget cuts and his "securitization" plan for the Housing Trust Fund. "We're glad that Interim Disability Assistance funding is to be maintained, but we need to expand it, and we oppose any diversion of Tobacco Settlement money away from health care," said Arturo Griffiths, Statehood Green candidate for Council At-Large. "We also need to close corporate tax loopholes, tax interest on out-of-state bonds, require accountability in the disbursement of Medicare, and drop the Mayor's proposed health care provider tax, which will further damage access to health care in D.C." "D.C. officials are incorrect when they tell us the District doesn't have the tax base to meet the needs of residents," said Michele Tingling-Clemmons, Statehood Green candidate for the Ward 7 seat on Council. "They're ignoring numerous sources. We must demand that institutions like the World Bank and IMF pay their fair share, under PILOT [payment in lieu of taxes] -- which would come to about $60 million a year. We must demand the full federal payment to D.C. and the reciprocal income tax -- and, in doing so, assert our political rights and need for D.C. statehood." Statehood Greens support the progressive Fair Taxes for DC plan recommended by the Fair Budget Coalition, of which the D.C. Statehood Green Party is a member. Mr. Schwartzman also called for immediate enactment of Initiative 51 (passed by 80% of the voters in 1996) requiring an open process for real property tax assessment appeals, and urged the Council to consider raising the property tax homestead exemption to at least $50,000. For the full text of his testimony: http://www.dcstatehoodgreen.org/testimony/2004/Budget.php.
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