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DC residents suffer third-class US citizenship yet pay more Federal taxes ($7,154) by far per person than any first-class citizen in the States. Number 2 is New York ($5,260), number 51 is Alabama ($2,328). Source: US Census Bureau |
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| Stand Up for Democracy in DC Coalition Endorses Bill to Study Toll Booths for Commuters |
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STAND UP! FOR DEMOCRACY IN DC COALITION
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Bill Mosley Tel.: (202) 360-5414 Contact: Anise Jenkins Tel.: (202) 361-9739
The Stand Up! For Democracy in DC Coalition has endorsed legislation before the DC Council to study the feasibility of collecting tolls from commuters and other drivers entering the District of Columbia.
The bill, introduced May 1 by Councilmembers Marion Barry (Ward 8) Kwame Brown (At-Large) and Harry Thomas Jr. (Ward 5), is aimed at recouping revenue lost to the District due to a congressional prohibition on taxing the incomes of suburban residents who work in the District, estimated at over $30 billion yearly. Barry said some 400,000 suburban commuters and 200,000 cars daily could be subject to the tolls. A 1997 study by the Brookings Institution estimated that the District could raise almost $1.4 billion annually if it could tax nonresident income. Commuters who live outside of DC contribute to wear and tear on DC roads as well as use District services such as police, fire protection and emergency medical services, but their incomes cannot be taxed to help pay for these services. All states and most cities that have income taxes tax nonresident income, the Brookings study found. “The Stand Up! for Democracy in DC Coalition (aka Free DC!), congratulates Councilmembers Barry, Thomas, and Brown for introducing a bill to study the effects of DC’s inability to tax nonresidents who work here,” said Stand Up President Anise Jenkins. “This study will show what common sense already tells us – half a million non-taxpaying non-residents who come to work in DC every day are not paying their fair share. The U.S. government's own General Accounting Office issued a report in 2003 stating that as long as DC cannot tax commuters, cannot tax federal property, does not receive a federal payment to substitute for commuter taxes while it continues to perform the functions of ‘state, city, county and special district governments,’ DC residents will continue to suffer.”
"The toll booth effort will highlight again the substantial financial damages done to Washington City annually inside this District Line noose,” said Malcolm Wiseman, Stand Up! treasurer and a plaintiff in the recently unsuccessful DC commuter tax lawsuit. “The voting rights camp might note that not even three DC votes would preserve this bill's enactment against a simple nay-saying majority in the House. You have to first move the DC line. Until then, toll it!" |
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