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A woman walks past tents used by people who are homeless above Connecticut Avenue in Dupont Circle, Washington, D.C. on May 11, 2020. (Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Washington DC Council Approves 'Transformational' Budget Including Tax Increase on Wealthy
"Homelessness is a choice, and displacement is a choice, and poverty is a choice," said Councilmember Janeese Lewis George. "We have the wealth and the resources in our city to solve these issues."
Jul 21, 2021
Grassroots organizers in Washington, D.C. celebrated late Tuesday after local lawmakers voted in favor of raising taxes on the city's wealthiest residents in order to fund housing and childcare programs aimed at helping to pull thousands of homeless and low-income people out of poverty.
The D.C. Council voted 8-5 to raise income taxes for people who earn at least $250,000 per year, which proponents say will raise $100 million in revenue in the next fiscal year.
"Today's budget could truly be transformational in total."
--Erik Salmi, communications director for Councilmember Charles Allen
The vote was the first step toward adopting the measure as part of the city's 2022 budget; the final vote on the budget proposal will take place in August.
The tax increase proposal was authored by Councilmembers Brianne K. Nadeau, Janeese Lewis George, and Charles Allen, who want to use the revenue to fund subsidies to raise wages for child care workers, more than 1,200 permanent housing vouchers to help residents facing homelessness or housing insecurity, and monthly tax credits for low-income households.
The councilmembers and other advocates noted that the new revenue would help vulnerable residents including survivors of domestic violence and people who have been incarcerated to find safe housing.
"Homelessness is a choice, and displacement is a choice, and poverty is a choice," said Lewis George. "We have the wealth and the resources in our city to solve these issues."
The plan will also raise the city's tax credit for low-income families from 40% of the credits they receive on their federal taxes to 55% of the federal credit, which will be paid out in monthly installments instead of a lump sum, amounting to a "monthly basic income" for the city's poorest residents, said Erik Salmi, communications director for Allen.
"Today's budget could truly be transformational in total," Salmi said.
The tax increase will apply to just 5% of D.C. residents. Single people who earn between $250,000 and $500,000 per year will pay a marginal tax rate of 9.25%, up from 8.5%. People who make between $500,000 and $1 million will see their tax rate increase to 9.75% and those earning more than $1 million per year will pay a marginal rate of 10.75%.
According to Allen, Lewis George, and Nadeau, the wealthiest people in the city will have to pay between $375 and $6,500 more per year in taxes.
Stuart Karaffa, chair of the Metro D.C. Democratic Socialists of America, said Tuesday's vote represented a "sea change" in the city and among local policymakers.
\u201cThis vote strikes me as a sea change for the DC council. What was recently a conservative, neoliberal body where progressive ideals went to die just voted to improve the lives of thousands of working class DC residents - all by taxing the rich. Now what about that wealth tax...?\u201d— Stuart Karaffa (@Stuart Karaffa) 1626831994
Some members of the council who opposed the tax increase claimed that raising taxes for the rich would make the city less "attractive" to high earners and that a tax increase was inappropriate following an infusion of $2.3 billion in federal pandemic relief.
The measure's authors and advocates who fought for the tax increase countered that long-term funding--not a one-time federal grant--is needed to help lift the city's low-income residents out of poverty.
Councilmember Mary Cheh said that while the changes to the city's tax code might be "bearable" to some of the residents affected, it may cause "a hardship for another."
"Are you joking, Mary Cheh?" asked Sunrise Movement D.C. ahead of the vote. "A tax on high earners is not a hardship--they're already making more money than everyone else in D.C.!"
\u201cAt this point, if you're voting against this measure, you're just telling the people of DC that you don't care if childcare workers make a living wage or if people are forced to live or die on the street. @brookepintodc @marycheh @kenyanmcduffie @AnitaBondsDC @ChmnMendelson\u201d— Sunrise DC (@Sunrise DC) 1626806146
Amber Gruner, an organizer with the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute, denounced opponents of the tax increase for pushing "a capitalist scarcity narrative."
\u201c"Ending govt waste" & anti-tax rhetoric is a capitalist scarcity narrative: there isn't enough for everyone, so you have to look out for yourself first.\n\nVoters support raising taxes on the rich because they see through that lie.\n\nThere is enough for everyone. #taxtherich\u201d— Amber Gruner (@Amber Gruner) 1626624066
"There is enough for everyone," Gruner tweeted. "Tax the rich."
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Grassroots organizers in Washington, D.C. celebrated late Tuesday after local lawmakers voted in favor of raising taxes on the city's wealthiest residents in order to fund housing and childcare programs aimed at helping to pull thousands of homeless and low-income people out of poverty.
The D.C. Council voted 8-5 to raise income taxes for people who earn at least $250,000 per year, which proponents say will raise $100 million in revenue in the next fiscal year.
"Today's budget could truly be transformational in total."
--Erik Salmi, communications director for Councilmember Charles Allen
The vote was the first step toward adopting the measure as part of the city's 2022 budget; the final vote on the budget proposal will take place in August.
The tax increase proposal was authored by Councilmembers Brianne K. Nadeau, Janeese Lewis George, and Charles Allen, who want to use the revenue to fund subsidies to raise wages for child care workers, more than 1,200 permanent housing vouchers to help residents facing homelessness or housing insecurity, and monthly tax credits for low-income households.
The councilmembers and other advocates noted that the new revenue would help vulnerable residents including survivors of domestic violence and people who have been incarcerated to find safe housing.
"Homelessness is a choice, and displacement is a choice, and poverty is a choice," said Lewis George. "We have the wealth and the resources in our city to solve these issues."
The plan will also raise the city's tax credit for low-income families from 40% of the credits they receive on their federal taxes to 55% of the federal credit, which will be paid out in monthly installments instead of a lump sum, amounting to a "monthly basic income" for the city's poorest residents, said Erik Salmi, communications director for Allen.
"Today's budget could truly be transformational in total," Salmi said.
The tax increase will apply to just 5% of D.C. residents. Single people who earn between $250,000 and $500,000 per year will pay a marginal tax rate of 9.25%, up from 8.5%. People who make between $500,000 and $1 million will see their tax rate increase to 9.75% and those earning more than $1 million per year will pay a marginal rate of 10.75%.
According to Allen, Lewis George, and Nadeau, the wealthiest people in the city will have to pay between $375 and $6,500 more per year in taxes.
Stuart Karaffa, chair of the Metro D.C. Democratic Socialists of America, said Tuesday's vote represented a "sea change" in the city and among local policymakers.
\u201cThis vote strikes me as a sea change for the DC council. What was recently a conservative, neoliberal body where progressive ideals went to die just voted to improve the lives of thousands of working class DC residents - all by taxing the rich. Now what about that wealth tax...?\u201d— Stuart Karaffa (@Stuart Karaffa) 1626831994
Some members of the council who opposed the tax increase claimed that raising taxes for the rich would make the city less "attractive" to high earners and that a tax increase was inappropriate following an infusion of $2.3 billion in federal pandemic relief.
The measure's authors and advocates who fought for the tax increase countered that long-term funding--not a one-time federal grant--is needed to help lift the city's low-income residents out of poverty.
Councilmember Mary Cheh said that while the changes to the city's tax code might be "bearable" to some of the residents affected, it may cause "a hardship for another."
"Are you joking, Mary Cheh?" asked Sunrise Movement D.C. ahead of the vote. "A tax on high earners is not a hardship--they're already making more money than everyone else in D.C.!"
\u201cAt this point, if you're voting against this measure, you're just telling the people of DC that you don't care if childcare workers make a living wage or if people are forced to live or die on the street. @brookepintodc @marycheh @kenyanmcduffie @AnitaBondsDC @ChmnMendelson\u201d— Sunrise DC (@Sunrise DC) 1626806146
Amber Gruner, an organizer with the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute, denounced opponents of the tax increase for pushing "a capitalist scarcity narrative."
\u201c"Ending govt waste" & anti-tax rhetoric is a capitalist scarcity narrative: there isn't enough for everyone, so you have to look out for yourself first.\n\nVoters support raising taxes on the rich because they see through that lie.\n\nThere is enough for everyone. #taxtherich\u201d— Amber Gruner (@Amber Gruner) 1626624066
"There is enough for everyone," Gruner tweeted. "Tax the rich."
Grassroots organizers in Washington, D.C. celebrated late Tuesday after local lawmakers voted in favor of raising taxes on the city's wealthiest residents in order to fund housing and childcare programs aimed at helping to pull thousands of homeless and low-income people out of poverty.
The D.C. Council voted 8-5 to raise income taxes for people who earn at least $250,000 per year, which proponents say will raise $100 million in revenue in the next fiscal year.
"Today's budget could truly be transformational in total."
--Erik Salmi, communications director for Councilmember Charles Allen
The vote was the first step toward adopting the measure as part of the city's 2022 budget; the final vote on the budget proposal will take place in August.
The tax increase proposal was authored by Councilmembers Brianne K. Nadeau, Janeese Lewis George, and Charles Allen, who want to use the revenue to fund subsidies to raise wages for child care workers, more than 1,200 permanent housing vouchers to help residents facing homelessness or housing insecurity, and monthly tax credits for low-income households.
The councilmembers and other advocates noted that the new revenue would help vulnerable residents including survivors of domestic violence and people who have been incarcerated to find safe housing.
"Homelessness is a choice, and displacement is a choice, and poverty is a choice," said Lewis George. "We have the wealth and the resources in our city to solve these issues."
The plan will also raise the city's tax credit for low-income families from 40% of the credits they receive on their federal taxes to 55% of the federal credit, which will be paid out in monthly installments instead of a lump sum, amounting to a "monthly basic income" for the city's poorest residents, said Erik Salmi, communications director for Allen.
"Today's budget could truly be transformational in total," Salmi said.
The tax increase will apply to just 5% of D.C. residents. Single people who earn between $250,000 and $500,000 per year will pay a marginal tax rate of 9.25%, up from 8.5%. People who make between $500,000 and $1 million will see their tax rate increase to 9.75% and those earning more than $1 million per year will pay a marginal rate of 10.75%.
According to Allen, Lewis George, and Nadeau, the wealthiest people in the city will have to pay between $375 and $6,500 more per year in taxes.
Stuart Karaffa, chair of the Metro D.C. Democratic Socialists of America, said Tuesday's vote represented a "sea change" in the city and among local policymakers.
\u201cThis vote strikes me as a sea change for the DC council. What was recently a conservative, neoliberal body where progressive ideals went to die just voted to improve the lives of thousands of working class DC residents - all by taxing the rich. Now what about that wealth tax...?\u201d— Stuart Karaffa (@Stuart Karaffa) 1626831994
Some members of the council who opposed the tax increase claimed that raising taxes for the rich would make the city less "attractive" to high earners and that a tax increase was inappropriate following an infusion of $2.3 billion in federal pandemic relief.
The measure's authors and advocates who fought for the tax increase countered that long-term funding--not a one-time federal grant--is needed to help lift the city's low-income residents out of poverty.
Councilmember Mary Cheh said that while the changes to the city's tax code might be "bearable" to some of the residents affected, it may cause "a hardship for another."
"Are you joking, Mary Cheh?" asked Sunrise Movement D.C. ahead of the vote. "A tax on high earners is not a hardship--they're already making more money than everyone else in D.C.!"
\u201cAt this point, if you're voting against this measure, you're just telling the people of DC that you don't care if childcare workers make a living wage or if people are forced to live or die on the street. @brookepintodc @marycheh @kenyanmcduffie @AnitaBondsDC @ChmnMendelson\u201d— Sunrise DC (@Sunrise DC) 1626806146
Amber Gruner, an organizer with the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute, denounced opponents of the tax increase for pushing "a capitalist scarcity narrative."
\u201c"Ending govt waste" & anti-tax rhetoric is a capitalist scarcity narrative: there isn't enough for everyone, so you have to look out for yourself first.\n\nVoters support raising taxes on the rich because they see through that lie.\n\nThere is enough for everyone. #taxtherich\u201d— Amber Gruner (@Amber Gruner) 1626624066
"There is enough for everyone," Gruner tweeted. "Tax the rich."
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LATEST NEWS
'There Will Be Blood': JPMorgan Hikes Odds of Trump-Triggered Recession to 60%
"The president single-handedly wiped out Americans' retirement savings overnight and subjected businesses to intense whiplash with his increasingly erratic and chaotic policies that continue to drive consumer and business uncertainty."
Apr 04, 2025
Alarm over U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs continues to grow, with stocks plummeting and JPMorgan warning that "the risk of recession in the global economy this year is raised to 60%, up from 40%."
After China announced new 34% tariffs on all American goods beginning next week, The Associated Press reported Friday that "the S&P 500 was down 4.8% in afternoon trading, after earlier dropping more than 5%, following its worst day since Covid wrecked the global economy in 2020. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1,719 points, or 4.3%, as of 1:08 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 4.9% lower."
Noting the state of Wall Street this week, Groundwork Collaborative executive director Lindsay Owens declared in a Friday statement that "Trump has officially brought the economy to its knees."
"The president single-handedly wiped out Americans' retirement savings overnight and subjected businesses to intense whiplash with his increasingly erratic and chaotic policies that continue to drive consumer and business uncertainty," she said. "To call this an economic downturn is an understatement; Trump is marching us straight into a depression."
Political and economic observers have been publicly wondering for weeks if Trump is intentionally crashing the economy. Further fueling those fears, he ramped up his trade war on Wednesday by announcing a minimum 10% tariff for imports, with higher levies for dozens of countries. Although he claimed those steeper duties are "reciprocal," his math "horrified" economists and has been called "crazy."
Responding in a Thursday note titled, There Will Be Blood, head of global economic research Bruce Kasman and other experts at JPMorgan wrote that "if sustained, this year's ~22%-point tariff increase would be the largest U.S. tax hike since 1968."
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As Bloomberg reported:
Several Wall Street firms on Thursday warned of a U.S. recession, with some making it their base case, after... Trump announced major levies on goods imported from countries around the world. Other economists, including those at JPMorgan, said the hit could be big, though they are taking a wait-and-see approach before revising their projections.
The announcement rocked global financial markets, and the S&P 500 suffered its worst day since 2020. Trump, speaking on Air Force One on Thursday afternoon, said he was open to reducing tariffs if trading partners were able to offer something "phenomenal."
"We are not making immediate changes to our forecasts and want to see the initial implementation and negotiation process that takes hold," the JPMorgan note says. "However, we view the full implementation of announced policies as a substantial macroeconomic shock not currently incorporated in our forecasts. We thus emphasize that these policies, if sustained, would likely push the U.S. and possibly global economy into recession this year."
The team also pointed out that the United States is in potential danger no matter how other countries are ultimately impacted, calling a "scenario where rest of world muddles through a U.S. recession possible but less likely than global downturn."
As Common Dreams reported last week, in anticipation of Trump's tariff announcement, Goldman Sachs published a research note projecting that the odds of a recession in the next year are 35%, up from 20%.
Other financial industry research firms that have recently warned of a possible recession include Barclays, BofA Global Research, Deutsche Bank, RBC Capital Markets, and UBS Global Wealth Management, according to Reuters.
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Experts have made similar comments to the press in the wake of the president's Rose Garden remarks on Wednesday. Time on Friday shared some from Brian Bethune, a Boston College economics professor:
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"Immigration. Medicaid. Workers' rights. Unions. Education. You name it—we're drawing the line," wrote one union.
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A list of locations for the events, which are not all slated to start at the same time on Saturday, can be found here.
Trump and Musk "think this country belongs to them," according to a website for the Hands Off! events. "This is a nationwide mobilization to stop the most brazen power grab in modern history."
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A spokesperson for the events told Common Dreams on Friday afternoon that the events have generated over 500,000 signups nationally, a number that is "growing rapidly," and there are over 1,000 events taking place on Saturday, a number that is "also growing steadily."
The actions are the latest warning sign for the Republican Party under Trump, who has allowed Elon Musk to play a core role in his administration, particularly in the administration's efforts to carry out cuts to federal personnel and spending.
Musk poured millions of dollars into a high-profile Wisconsin Supreme Court election that took place on April 1—helping to make it the most expensive judicial election in U.S. history by one tally—only to have his preferred candidate, judge Brad Schimel, lose.
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Dozens of unions, watchdogs, and advocacy groups—such as Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Americans for Tax Fairness, and Accountable.US—are supporting the action as partners.
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The environmentalist iIll McKibben wrote on Bluesky on Wednesday: "Expect to see a lot of gray hair at the April 5 Hands Off rallies—we've been organizing like crazy at Third Act," a group that mobilizes Americans over the age of 60.
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Lawsuit Says Union-Busting Trump Order Is 'Unconstitutional' Attack on Working Class
One union leader called President Donald Trump's executive order "the most significant assault on collective bargaining rights we have ever seen in the United States."
Apr 04, 2025
A coalition of labor unions representing federal workers across the United States sued the Trump administration on Friday over its recent order aimed at stripping union rights from more than a million government employees, a move that the lawsuit characterizes as a blatant violation of the First Amendment.
The suit, brought by unions that collectively represent more than 950,000 federal workers, stems from a March 27 order titled "Exclusions From Federal Labor-Management Relations Programs," in which President Donald Trump cites a provision of a 1978 law to deny collective bargaining rights to certain government workers on national security grounds.
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"Federal employees have had the right to join a union and bargain collectively for decades—through multiple wars, international conflicts, and a global health emergency during President Trump's first term," said Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees. "During all that time, they served the American people with honor and distinction. No one, including President Trump, ever suggested unions were a national security concern."
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The lawsuit points specifically to language included in a fact sheet the White House released in conjunction with Trump's March 27 order. The document claims that "certain federal unions have declared war on President Trump's agenda," citing AFGE lawsuits against the administration and legal actions by Veterans Affairs unions.
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"The labor movement stands in solidarity, and we will not let this administration's union-busting tactics silence us."
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Randy Erwin, president of the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE), called Trump's order "the most significant assault on collective bargaining rights we have ever seen in the United States" and said it is "clear that this executive order is retaliation for federal unions fighting back against the Trump administration's attempts to dismantle the civil service."
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