State of Kentucky Archives: on Tax Reform
Charles Booker:
Close loopholes for wealthy, ease burden on working families
Our federal tax structure is broken. This problem was made even worse by the 2017 Republican tax bill that Mitch McConnell helped shepherd through the Senate. I would press for an overhaul of the federal tax code that undoes the harm caused by the
2017 tax law, closes loopholes that corporations and the wealthy use to avoid paying their fair share, and eases the burden on working families in communities like mine and all across Kentucky.
Source: KFTC.org on 2022 Kentucky Senate race
Mar 16, 2021
Mitch McConnell:
2017 tax bill helped middle class & small businesses
Q: Support administration's $1.9 trillion (2017) tax cuts?Mitch McConnell: Yes. Called the bill "major tax relief for middle-class families and small businesses."
Amy McGrath: No. Called the bill "a massive tax scam that showered tax cuts and benefits on corporations and the wealthiest 1%."
Source: CampusElect on 2020 Kentucky Senate race
Oct 10, 2020
Wesley Morgan:
Repeal 16th amendment; abolish IRS
Abolish the IRS: I believe in the repeal of the
16th Amendment which allows the federal government to levy an income tax from all Americans.
Source: 2020 Kentucky Senate website WesleyMorganForSenate.com
Feb 6, 2020
Wesley Morgan:
Amend Constitution to balance budget without raising taxes
Congress must be forced to cut spending.
I support a constitutional amendment to balance the federal budget without raising taxes.
Source: 2020 Kentucky Senate website WesleyMorganForSenate.com
Feb 6, 2020
Andy Beshear:
Add new revenue sources like casino gambling
Taxes: Support which tax policies?Beshear: Opposes shift from income to sales taxes. Limit tax incentives for outside corporations. Add new revenue sources like casino gambling & legalizing & taxing medical marijuana. End tax incentives for companies
that don't pay a living wage.
Bevin: Signed $106 million tax cut for banks & other institutions. Would shift revenue base to sales taxes: "I think the state income tax & state corporate tax should be zero." Offer tax incentives for corporations.
Source: 2018 CampusElect.org Guide on 2019 Kentucky Governor race
Nov 1, 2019
C. Wesley Morgan:
Abolish the state income tax, to create jobs
As your representative of the 81st District, I will support legislation to abolish the state income tax, and give some relief to the hard working families in Kentucky.
Creating jobs in the Bluegrass will be one of my key goals. By abolishing the state income tax and getting rid of burdensome regulations that keep businesses away; we will see a boom in job creation in
Source: Ballotpedia.org Connection: 2020 Kentucky Senate race
Sep 9, 2019
Adam Edelen:
No increased tax burden on poor and working Kentuckians
Q: Do you support Kentucky eliminating the income tax and going to a more consumption-tax based model?A: No. The misguided tax "reforms" of recent years have placed an increased burden on poor and working
Kentuckians while cutting taxes for banks, big corporations, and the well-off. Without redistributive measures, eliminating the income tax would be just another step in the direction of putting a greater burden on those struggling to get by.
Source: Louisville Courier-Journal on 2019 Kentucky governor's race
May 10, 2019
Robert Goforth:
Numbers don't add up to switch income tax to sales tax
Q: Do you support Kentucky eliminating the income tax and going to a more consumption-tax based model?
A: Before I could support eliminating the state income tax, I would have to be convinced that we could generate the same revenue through other consumption-based taxes without placing an inordinate burden on working Kentuckians.
At present, I am not sure that the numbers add up to justify doing that. I am open to honest, fair, comprehensive tax reform that
does not ask too much from the already stretched pocketbooks of Kentuckians from Feds Creek to Fulton.
Source: Louisville Courier-Journal on 2019 Kentucky governor's race
May 10, 2019
Rocky Adkins:
Consumption taxes are unfair to lower income people
Q: Do you support Kentucky eliminating the income tax and going to a more consumption-tax based model? A: Rocky and his running mate Stephanie believe that a tax system based solely on consumption taxes is unfair to lower income populations and is
not the answer to a revenue problem. Kentucky must stop balancing its checkbook on the backs of working families. They will look at ways to generate revenue through medical marijuana, hemp, and growing new industries like the aerospace industry.
Source: Louisville Courier-Journal on 2019 Kentucky governor's race
May 10, 2019
Amy McGrath:
Don't pay for tax cuts for wealthy by undermining healthcare
Pattern continues--House Republicans try to pay for their tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations by undermining not only healthcare for elderly
Americans (cuts to Medicare), but also healthcare for kids (cuts to CHIP). That's the bottom line...again.
Source: Twitter posting on 2018 Kentucky 6th District House race
Jun 3, 2018
C. Wesley Morgan:
Reform taxes to a consumption based tax system only
My top goals as a representative would be reform taxes to a consumption based tax system only. I want to end the requirement that citizens must report their financial earnings to the government. The 4th amendment prohibits that.
My goal will be to cut red tape that hinders small business.
These two goals are part of the bigger plan to bring in thousands of jobs and allow small businesses to thrive.
My overall goal is to limit the influence in government in our lives by defending the Constitution. My plan would require no additional funding; but would produce budget surpluses.
Source: Kentucky State Legislative 2016 Political Courage Test
Nov 1, 2016
Matt Bevin:
Reduce tax revenue: not simple revenue neutrality
Updating and simplifying our antiquated tax code will allow us to better compete with surrounding states.
We will focus on raising only the revenue truly necessary to run the state government.
We must also take additional steps such as eliminating the state inheritance tax and lowering individual and corporate tax rates. Under my leadership, tax reform will not be based simply on revenue neutrality,
but rather, to the extent possible, on reducing tax revenue itself and leaving as much of Kentucky's wealth in the hands of those who produce it.
Source: 2015 Kentucky Gubernatorial campaign website, MattBevin.com
Aug 11, 2015
Alison Grimes:
Close tax loopholes for wealthy to pay for college loans
Grimes received a boost from a leading Democrat who is also taking on Republican Mitch McConnell across the country. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts visited the University of Louisville to stump for Grimes and reform efforts of the country's
student loan system.McConnell slammed the proposal as a tax increase because it was paid for by closing tax loopholes for Americans earning over $1 million annually. Warren has made a personal mission of targeting McConnell, Grimes' opponent, since he
successfully blocked her bill aimed at cutting student loan rates earlier this month. "McConnell said when you got a choice between billionaires and students, it's more important to protect the billionaires," said Warren. "We fell two votes short. If you
send us Alison Grimes instead of Mitch McConnell, you change the world."
The chair of the UofL college Republicans said, "Alison Grimes is using Warren's failed student loan bill, which relies on raising taxes on Kentucky's job creators by 30%."
Source: WFPL coverage of 2014 Kentucky Senate race
Jun 29, 2014
Mitch McConnell:
Comprehensive tax reform can work if it's revenue-neutral
Q: Are you for tax reform? Or might you even support some who are calling to get rid of the IRS?McCONNELL: What I would like to see is the same kind of premise that Ronald Reagan and Tip O'Neill, a Republican and a Democrat, had back in the '80s.
And the premise was this: We're going to do tax reform but it will be revenue neutral to the government. In other words, the government doesn't gain revenue for itself. It's for flattening out the tax rate, making our country more competitive.
If we can agree, in advance, that the exercise will be conducted within those parameters, that it's not a tax increase for the federal government, then
I think it would be a very good thing for our country to do comprehensive tax reform, lower the rates, and make America more competitive in the global economy.
Source: Meet the Press 2013 on 2014 Kentucky Senate race
Jul 14, 2013
Steve Beshear:
Taxes are not the answer; no broad-based increases
I have opposed broad-based tax increases in Kentucky, and I will continue to oppose them during this legislative session. I will not threaten the survival and growth of our businesses at this perilous moment. I will not burden our families as they
struggle to survive. And I will not jeopardize our fragile recovery. Last October, the national Tax Foundation ranked Kentucky's Business Tax Climate 19th best in the nation, up an incredible 15 spots in one year. We're ahead of neighbors Illinois,
Ohio, West Virginia and Tennessee, which was ranked 27th. Taxes are not the answer. And neither is decimating our priorities--education, creating jobs and public safety. Instead, we have acted in a calm, strategic and measured way to rein in government
with an eye not just on short-term survival but also on long-term progress. And that strategy is working. The light at the end of the tunnel is real, and we are moving closer to it.
Source: 2011 Kentucky State of the State Address
Feb 1, 2011
Jack Conway:
Keep Bush tax cuts during recession
Q: [To Conway] I want to ask about a change in your position on the Bush tax cuts. You told the Louisville Courier-Journal in April, "I would favor letting expire the majority of the Bush tax cuts." Now you want to extend all of them.CONWAY: I was
talking about the special interest provisions that allow companies to shift our jobs overseas. That's what I was focused on in that particular interview. We shouldn't be raising taxes in a time of recession, with 10% unemployment, with capital frozen on
the sidelines. In 2002, when I was running for the US Congress, I was for the Bush tax cuts then. I was one of the few Democrats for them. And I think now we just ought to extend them.
PAUL: Well, you were for them before you were against them. At the
Farm Bureau debate just a couple of months ago, you said you were bringing back the death tax.
CONWAY: No, I didn't.
PAUL: You specifically said you wouldn't take a 55% tax on estates. You said 45% with some exemptions.
CONWAY: I never said that.
Source: Fox News Sunday, 2010 Kentucky Senate debate
Oct 3, 2010
Rand Paul:
Balanced budget amendment to pay to extend $4T Bush tax cuts
Q: You have been consistent that you wanted to extend all the Bush tax cuts. But that would add $4 trillion to the deficit. The first issue you mentioned in this debate was the national debt. How are you going to pay for a $4 trillion loss of revenue fro
the tax cuts?PAUL: First of all, you look at whose money is it. It's the people's money who earned the money. And we give up some to pay taxes. So I'm not seeing it as a cost to government. But I will immediately introduce bills to reduce spending so
I think we should offset it.
Q: There's no way you're going to get $4 trillion by spending cuts.
PAUL: I will introduce legislation that will balance the budget. We will have a balanced budget amendment introduced if I'm elected. But about the
Bush tax cuts--businesses have made calculations on these for 5 or 10 years. Business needs predictability. If you take away these Bush tax cuts, if you allow Obama to have the largest tax increase in our history, it will be a disaster for the economy.
Source: Fox News Sunday, 2010 Kentucky Senate debate
Oct 3, 2010
Bruce Lunsford:
Eliminate the capital gains tax
For the first time during a campaign fought mostly over airwaves, Republican U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell and his Democratic challenger Bruce Lunsford stared each other down Wednesday and answered each others’ criticisms.
During the forum, the candidates agreed on several broad policy issues, such as eliminating the capital gains tax. But they frequently traded shots over each other’s political backers.
Source: 2008 Kentucky Senate debate reported in Herald-Leader
Aug 21, 2008
Mitch McConnell:
Resolve to lower capital gains taxes
McConnell said that Lunsford’s farm upbringing “isn’t relevant” to how he would perform in the Senate and questioned Lunsford’s resolve to lower capital gains taxes, which are not indexed for inflation.
He said Democratic leaders in the Senate would never allow a budget bill with such a tax cut, and “the chances of a freshman legislator voting against a budget resolution is nil.”
Source: 2008 Kentucky Senate debate reported in Courier-Journal
Aug 21, 2008
Page last updated: Oct 13, 2021