click to enlarge - Anne Wallace Allen ©️ Seven Days
- Vermont Statehouse
A group of wealthy Vermonters is asking lawmakers to raise taxes on people making more than $500,000 annually.
A letter created by Fair Share for Vermont, a campaign that is seeking to create a 3 percent tax surcharge on earnings over $500,000, includes 23 signers. Among them are Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield of Ben & Jerry’s; David Blittersdorf, who started the renewable energy company NRG Systems; and Duane Peterson, who cofounded the solar company SunCommon.
“We are willing to pay additional taxes to raise revenue for fundamental government services,” says the letter, distributed by the ACLU of Vermont. “We recognize that through public investment, we can improve the quality of life for all people.”
Fair Share for Vermont, which is based at the Public Assets Institute in Montpelier, launched a campaign in November calling for the 3 percent surcharge with backing from groups including Vermont Conservation Voters and the Vermont-NEA, the state teachers’ union.
In January, Rep. Emilie Kornheiser (D-Brattleboro), chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, introduced one bill adding the 3 percent surcharge and another that would tax the unrealized capital gains of people with assets of more than $10 million. The campaign said then that the two taxes would raise more than $100 million annually.
The capital gains proposal has since been sidelined. The bill levying a 3 percent surcharge has been tabled, too, but Kornheiser said that proposal will be added to another tax bill this week. For the measure to become law this year, Kornheiser has a deadline of Friday to complete committee work on the bill and get it onto the House floor for a vote.
Opponents warn the tax would push wealthy Vermonters to leave the state. But Kornheiser said she’s heard from people who want it to pass, too. “I think I have the support of the committee, and I think I have the support of the [Democratic] caucus as well,” Kornheiser said on Tuesday.
Asked why some wealthy Vermonters would call for higher taxes instead of donating their money, Peterson said charitable giving doesn't support basic human needs such as food, housing, and health.
“Societal needs are better identified by elected representatives than left to the whims of philanthropists,” Peterson texted. "Some Vermonters have huge wealth. Contributing more won't change their lifestyles but can really strengthen society."
You can read the letter here: