Diane and Michael Killen are small business owners who live in western Colorado and have operated a small video production company for 20 years. Together they hire local people, serve local clients, and help fuel the local economy. 

In retrospect, they are not fond of the 2017 Trump tax cut. 

“When the 2017 GOP tax law passed, we were told this law would help small businesses thrive,” Michael Killen says. “We were told it would make it easier for us to grow and compete. But I gotta tell you, that hasn’t been the case. We’re here today because the promises politicians made to small business owners today like us turned out to be flat out untrue. Instead of seeing opportunity, we’ve watched as big corporations and the ultra-wealthy got huge tax breaks and took advantage of loopholes while small business owners like us saw little to no benefit.” 

The Killen family and other advocates recently gathered near the U.S. Capitol to demand that the Trump tax cuts, most of which expire in 2025, not be renewed. They’ve launched a new national coalition, made up of both national organizations and grassroots advocates, to press their case that the current tax system is vastly unfair and unbalanced. 

Co-hosted by Fair Share USA, Americans for Tax Fairness, and Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Ranking Member of the House Ways and Means Committee, advocates rallied to foreshadow the fight to come once Congress returns in 2025. 

“What’s been called the Super Bowl of taxes is coming up next year. Will we have the Trump tax scam extended or will we stop it?” Doggett said. “It’s about whether we will have the resources that are necessary to invest in America, to invest in our education system, our health care, our child care, and our retirement security, which should be available to all Americans.” 

Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI), also a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, said a better investment would be an expanded Child Tax Credit – the CTC was temporarily expanded during the pandemic, but that expansion expired at the end of 2021 when Congress refused to extend it. 

“Studies show what people did with the CTC,” Moore said. “Guess what, y’all? They fed their babies. They gave them better quality food. Better housing. This is what they did with the money.” 

Becky Pringle, who taught middle school science for 31 years and is now President of the nation’s largest teachers union, the National Education Association, said students “cannot come to school ready to learn every day if they don’t have a stable family that is ready to take care if their children.” 

“And if we do not have tax fairness, that can’t be done,” she said. “And then who is it that stands in those gaps when they cross the threshold of our schoolhouse? It’s educators. We’re the ones who have to stand in those gaps. So we’re not only fighting as part of the working class, we’re fighting for our students.” 

Ai-Jen Poo, Executive Director of Caring Across Generations and President of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, noted that there are 33 million Americans raising young children today, including 11 million “sandwich generation” parents who are “squeezed between the pressures of caring for our children and our aging and disabled loved ones.” 

“Does that sound familiar to you?” she asked. “It is so important what we do as caregivers. And yet, millions of families across this country are struggling to manage and afford care.” 

Stasha Rhodes, Executive Director, United for Democracy, noted, “The tax code is foundational to nearly all economic and social policy in our democracy,” and must be designed with that in mind. 

“It can be used to generate the public resources needed for shared growth, to combat poverty, and to address longstanding racial and gender inequities,” she said. “Or it can be shrunk down to the point where a false sense of scarcity holds and pits priorities and communities against each other.” 

Finally, David Shadburn, Senior Government Affairs Advocate for the League of Conservation Voters, said, “…we are tired of corporations and the wealthy not paying their fair share in taxes. We are tired of being told that deficits caused by these corporate handouts are the reason why we can’t invest in our communities like protecting the air we breathe and the water we drink.” 

“And we are tired of being told that investing in good-paying union, clean energy jobs in the affordable clean energy economy are giveaways, but continued, taxpayer-funded subsidies for polluting industries that are causing cancer and other harmful illnesses disproportionately in low-wealth communities of color – that’s okay.” 

In addition to the press event, over 200 advocates from 22 states organized approximately 100 meetings with House and Senate offices. With so much at stake as Congress takes up major tax legislation next year, people from across the country are making their voices heard. You can watch the press event recording here.