20+ Champion State Legislators Attend the Fair Tax Summit
Tax policy for people — not billionaires, that one trillionaire, or corporations
SiX legislators were in full force at the Fair Tax Summit! Our delegation of 21 tax champions representing 11 states across the country joined hundreds of tax organizers in Detroit, Michigan this month.
The Fair Tax Summit – organized by partners at the State Revenue Alliance (SRA), Better Taxes for a Better America (BTBA), and Families Over Billionaires (FOB) – is a national strategy convening centered on advancing bold revenue strategies, reshaping public narratives, and reclaiming tax and budget policy as tools to invest in people, strengthen public systems, and build a more democratic and equitable future. Attendees included state advocates, policy experts, national organizers, state legislators, and philanthropic funders interested in tax justice.
The Summit focused on how to advance people-centered tax policy, how tax policy and the fight racial and immigrant justice are interconnected, as well as the intersections of tax justice and democracy, engaging congressional peers, effective messaging, taxing tech (AI, crypto, and corporate power), and more. Additionally, Minnesota Rep. Aisha Gomez, Arizona Senator Analise Ortiz, Pennsylvania Senator Art Haywood, and Washington Senator Noel Frame spoke on an incredible, fiery Policymaker Champions panel about leading on bold tax reforms in their states, working with advocates, and understanding taxes as a form of community care through funding public services.
America’s tax systems have helped create a class of lawless billionaires (and alarmingly, the world's first trillionaire) whose excessive wealth is destroying our economy, our democracy, and our planet. In order to take back our democracy and cure the multiple crises the ultra-rich have created, we must tax them, and the corporations from which they profiteer. States, and state legislators, represent a crucial frontline in this fight to end excessive wealth. For centuries, the ultra-rich have leveraged state legislatures as a tool to redistribute wealth upwards, using state laws to design state tax systems that reward wealth hoarders and punish hard workers. Today, that trend permeates, expanding both the racial wealth gap and the wider class divide in the United States. The passage of the One Big Ugly Bill along with Trump’s tariffs, wars, and AI and Big Tech agenda have only exacerbated this crisis.
But state legislators, in partnership with their constituents and tax advocacy organizations, are building a different way forward – fighting back against dangerous tax cuts that threaten healthcare, education, and public safety – and rebalancing power in this country by making sure the ultra-wealthy and massive corporations pay their taxes, and that working families get the economic gains and democratic power they deserve. The Fair Tax Summit provided an essential space to organize towards this future.
