Democrats are playing a dirty game.
After receiving plenty of funds from numerous federal COVID-19 pandemic recovery bills, Democratic-led states are blocking Republican legislators’ efforts to give relief to taxpayers.
According to a December report by CNBC, since the pandemic began in March 2020, the federal government has passed more than $5 trillion in spending dedicated to battling the pandemic.
Billions of those funds went to states to compensate for increased unemployment benefits, school reopening, and a myriad of pandemic-related expenses.
However, many states spent only a fraction of the funds allocated to them, leaving the budget in a surplus.
Now, Republican legislators in some of these “blue states” are trying to get tax relief bills passed, using cash from the surplus of pandemic-related funds to return money to taxpayers in those states.
Yet, according to the Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC), their efforts are being thwarted by Democrats.
Deputy Communications Director of the RSLC, Mason Di Palma, expressed dismay at what Democrats are doing, writing in a statement that “Americans are struggling… with record inflation and skyrocketing gas prices” an issue he attributed to “the failed policies of Joe Biden and his liberal allies.”
Di Palma acknowledged that while Republicans in Colorado, New Mexico, Maryland, Vermont, and Washington “are looking to ease the financial pain for their constituents by introducing tax reform bills… Democrats are playing politics with people’s lives.”
He noted that Democrats had blocked the proposals “At a time where Americans could use a little relief.”
The RSLC also referenced a poll it sponsored in battleground states that found 74% of voters in those states support a tax cut.
The poll conducted by Cygnal surveyed 2,217 likely voters from 13 states, including Arizona, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin.
It also revealed that 95% of voters felt the cost of living and rising inflation would determine how they vote in the upcoming elections.
Pointing to Democratic-led Colorado, the RSLC mentioned that state Democrats blocked HB1021, a bill that “would have reduced both individual and corporate state income tax rates from 4.55% to 4.4%.”
Tax-reducing bills in New Mexico, Vermont, Maryland, and Washington have also stalled, according to the RSLC.
