Independent Women’s Forum today led a coalition of 33 freedom movement organizations and activists united against a new payroll tax and new paid leave entitlement program.
“Everyone wants new parents to be able to have the time off they need to care for a new baby,” explained IWF President Carrie Lukas, “But the wrong way to approach this issue is to have government take over and decide what kind of benefits are right for every single working woman and man. And that’s exactly what a new paid leave entitlement program would do. Once government begins collecting a new payroll tax and promising a new stream of benefit payments for every qualified worker, then all existing compensation packages are affected. It won’t matter if you’ve liked what your employer is providing or not. You’d be a part of a one-size-fits-all government system, which would create far more problems than it would solve.”
In Opposition to A New Payroll Tax and Paid Leave Entitlement Program
April 1, 2019
Dear Senators and Members of Congress,
Everyone wants workers to be able to take time off from work when they need it.
Thanks to an improving economy, employers are increasingly offering paid leave benefits to employees, including hourly workers. This is great news, and a trend that we want to continue. However, imposing a payroll tax on workers and creating a one-size-fits-all government entitlement program would be the wrong way to expand access to paid leave benefits.
A new payroll tax would leave all workers with less money in every paycheck. This would particularly burden lower-income workers, making it harder for them to make ends meet and save for retirement and other critical needs.
Higher payroll taxes reduce employment opportunities.
A one-size-fits-all federal benefit will discourage companies from offering their own paid leave benefits. Some employees would end up with less flexibility and worse paid leave benefits as a result.
Paid leave entitlement programs tend to benefit those with higher incomes and burden those with lower incomes. Research has found this to be the case with paid leave programs enacted in California, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Canada, Norway, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Iceland, and Belgium. This isn’t fair.
We the undersigned, representing millions of American workers, oppose a new payroll tax and federal paid leave entitlement program because we want to preserve opportunity, flexibility, and fairness.
Sincerely,
Carrie Lukas President Independent Women’s Forum
Grover Norquist President Americans for Tax Reform
Heather Higgins Chief Executive Officer Independent Women’s Voice
Ramesh Ponnuru Visiting Fellow American Enterprise Institute
Tammy Bruce President Independent Women’s Voice
Tim Chapman Executive Director Heritage Action for America
Lisa B. Nelson Chief Executive Officer American Legislative Exchange Council
Frayda Levin Former Small Business Owner
Jason Pye Vice President of Legislative Affairs FreedomWorks
Christina Sandefur Executive Vice President Goldwater Institute
Jenny Beth Martin Honorary Chairman Tea Party Patriots Action
Bob Carlstrom President The Carlstrom Group, LLC
Katie McAuliffe Executive Director Digital Liberty
Elizabeth Nolan Brown President Feminists for Liberty
Cliff Maloney President Young Americans for Liberty
Penny Nance CEO and President Concerned Women for America
Rebekah Bydlak Executive Director Coalition to Reduce Spending
Matthew Kandrach President Consumer Action for a Strong Economy
Pete Sapp President National Taxpayers Union
Ryan Ellis President Center for a Free Economy
James L. Martin Founder/Chairman 60 Plus Association
Saulius “Saul” Anuzis President 60 Plus Association
Rick Manning President Americans for Limited Government
Andrew Langer President Institute for Liberty
Karen Kerrigan President & CEO Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council
Andrew F. Quinlan President Center for Freedom and Prosperity
David Williams President Taxpayers Protection Alliance
Phil Kerpen President American Commitment
Kat Murti Executive Director Feminists for Liberty
Tom Giovanetti President Institute for Policy Innovation
Maureen Blum President Strategic Coalitions & Initiatives
Jeffrey Mazzella President Center for Individual Freedom
Janet Morana Executive Director Priests for Life