With this year’s tax season ending, our Just a Bite host, Sarah, interviewed two experts to discuss the need for an equitable tax code and progressive revenue in Ohio and to highlight the important solutions to make that happen.  

Sarah first talks with Bailey Williams, a tax researcher from Policy Matters Ohio, who answers questions like, why are taxes and revenue so important? What targeted tax relief can we establish for families? And why is eliminating the state income tax such a harmful policy for Ohioans with low and moderate incomes? 

After speaking with Bailey, Sarah talks with Benisha Wright, an advocate and directly impacted Ohioan who talks about what the child tax credit in 2021 meant for her family and countless other Ohio families. She shares that since that tax relief has expired and inflation has only continued to grow, she is increasingly concerned about her ability to make ends meet. We also explore the benefit cliff that she and so many others have experienced as they grow in their careers and earn raises for their hard work, the difficult catch-22 that they are put in to balance their new income and expenses without the support of benefit programs. 

If you would like to take action to push our elected officials to take up equitable tax policies, please share your Child Tax Credit story with us through this form. You can also call on your U.S. Senators to pass a bipartisan child tax credit here. 

References: 

Listen to the press conference for the introduction of the Thriving Families Tax Credit, with Benisha’s remarks starting at 4:29 mark.  

See the media coverage from the press conference and coverage highlighting the Thriving Families Tax Credit: 

• Ohio House Dems introduce ‘priority investment’ with family tax credit, by Susan Tebben, Ohio Capital Journal. 

• Ohio foodbanks say Thriving Families Tax Credit could help reduce hunger, by Nadia Ramlagan, Public News Service 

• Ohio lawmakers introduce legislation to help families put food on the table, by Remi Murrey, News 5 Cleveland 

See the various research papers done by Policy Matters Ohio making the case for an equitable tax code in Ohio: 

• Increase family security and expand opportunity in Ohio: the case for a state-level thriving families tax credit, by Will Petrik 

• Tax policy for the people: Give Ohio families a break with refundable tax credits, by Bailey Williams, Will Petrik, Chloe Gonzalez, and Zach Schiller 

• Ohio needs a property tax circuit breaker: Targeting help to those who need it, by Zach Schiller  

• The great Ohio tax shift, 2022: How state tax policies indulge the rich at the expense of Ohio families, by Guillermo Bervejillo 

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Ohio Association of Foodbanks is a registered 501c3 nonprofit organization without party affiliation or bias. We are Ohio’s largest charitable response to hunger and our mission is to assist Ohio’s 12 Feeding America foodbanks in providing food and other resources to people in need and to pursue areas of common interest for the benefit of people in need.