Every week at All Saints Church we put our faith into action. This week we are signing a letter to our members of Congress calling on them to pay for the human investments in the Budget Reconciliation Bill by increasing revenues through greater tax fairness.

Government efforts to alleviate poverty can be addressed by a public treasury well-financed by progressive taxation. When treasury coffers are lean, low-income people are the first to suffer. Failing to address the needs of low-income people exacerbates poverty, increases unemployment, and worsens health outcomes, all of which have negative impacts on economic growth. According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s report in 2014, “…the main mechanism through which inequality affects growth is by undermining education opportunities for children from poor socio-economic backgrounds, lowering social mobility and hampering skills development.”

As Congress develops legislation based on the budget framework which passed both the Senate and the House last month, we urge lawmakers to use this opportunity to increase progressivity in the tax code and reduce income and wealth inequality.

We support several options to finance the proposals in the reconciliation package and promote tax fairness. In particular, our Church calls for progressive taxation. General Convention calls for us to support efforts to address economic disparities, a reversal of federal and state tax cuts, and progressive tax rates. In the context of this reconciliation bill, we are calling for Congress to:

• Increase the corporate tax rate
• Restore the top marginal tax rate to the pre-2017 figure of 39.6%
• Crack down on tax evasion by the wealthy and corporations by strengthening IRS enforcement and information technology

All Saints and the Episcopal Church supports fiscally responsible, progressive taxation and revenue-raising to offer protection for low-income people and vulnerable children. Contact your members of Congress and ask them to support our social safety net through fiscal responsibility and tax fairness.

Episcopal Church Resolutions

• 2015-A094: Support the Reduction of Economic Disparities by Progressive Taxation
• EXC022011: Advocacy for a Federal Budget that Expresses Shared Moral Priorities
• EXC062001: Support Funding for Social Service Programs

Options to Sign:

1. Sign a letter at the Action Table Sunday morning.
2. Download a PDF copy of the letter to sign and mail.

Letter used at the Action Table.     Letter for those outside California.

3. Click on this link to sign a petition on line.

If you need to look up your member of the U.S. House of Representatives or your U.S. Senators, www.house.gov and www.senate.gov .