By Brenda Vassaur Taylor
Joyce Elliott (D) is the Democrat candidate for Congress who is running against Congressman French Hill (R).
Elliott is a long time State Senator and also served in the Arkansas House of Representative. As a state legislator, Elliott has a liberal record – as you would expect from a Democrat.
Elliott is clearly a tax and spend and tax some more type politician. Elliott would fit right in with the congressional Democrat plan to repeal the Trump tax cut and raise taxes even more.
You can tell Elliott’s record on taxes is hurting her bid to unseat popular congressman French Hill. Liberal columnist John Brummett of the Democrat Gazette has already tried to come to Elliott’s defense saying:
[Congressman French] Hill could even dirty his own banker’s hands, although he would need to do better than his opening salvo last week in which he hit Elliott in a TV spot for voting as a state senator for cell-phone fees with proceeds used to upgrade 911 service. Practically the entire Republican-dominated Arkansas General Assembly voted for that measure.[i]
Brummett wants you to think Elliot’s tax votes were nothing more than a vote for a little ole tax to support 911 services and all the Republicans were doing the same. That is a huge distortion.
Elliott’s votes for multiple taxes are a serious problem. If you do not think so, just ask Republicans Senator John Cooper and Representative Jana Della Rosa who lost their primary races this year due in part to their willingness to vote for tax after tax in 2019. Governor Asa Hutchinson even campaigned for Cooper but not even the Governor could save Cooper from his voting record and defeat.
CONDUIT has been pointing out the records of Democrats and Republicans alike on tax votes and has been critical of the tax and spend crowd in both parties. We criticized the voting records of Republicans Cooper and Della Rosa, and we don’t intend to pass on Democrats just because every one expects them to have a liberal voting record anyway.
Joyce Elliott’s record on taxes is among the worst in the Arkansas State Senate. (And, yes there were some RINOs in the same crowd, but fewer after the primaries.)
These are the tax increases Elliott voted for in 2019:
- A one-half percent (0.50%) sales tax for highways to appear on your ballot at the November 2020 election (HJR1018)
- Gas and Diesel fuel tax increases (SB336)
- Water bill tax increase (HB1737)
- Cell phone bill tax increase (HB1564)
- Tobacco products and e-cigarettes tax increase (HB1565)
- Another tobacco products and e-cigarettes tax increase to fund a redistribution of wealth plan where lower income filers could receive more money than they paid in taxes. (SB571) [Failed][ii]
The only tax increase Elliott didn’t vote for was the internet sales tax (SB576).
And what about Elliott’s record on tax relief bills? It is also bad.
The major tax relief bill of 2019 was SB211. It lowered very high income taxes rates on higher income earners. It was the third bill in a series of income tax cuts (middle income earners in 2015, low income earners in 2017, and lastly higher income earners in 2019). As you would expect from a Democrat, Joyce Elliott was one of the few state senators to vote against the bill. Democrats seem to want to tax out of existence any individual who has a higher income.
But her opposition to tax cuts doesn’t stop there. Let’s look at Elliott’s vote on the middle income tax relief bill of 2015 (SB6). Elliott was one of only a few State Senators to vote “NO.” So her position was “NO” to tax relief for higher income earners and even “NO” to middle income earners.[iii]
The only other tax relief bill in 2019 was SB447, which increased the homestead property tax credit by twenty five dollars ($25) per year. Elliot voted for that bill, however, CONDUIT does not give credit to any legislator who voted for the bill because the main feature of the bill was that the legislature raided the Property Tax Relief Fund to spend on unrelated things and which will make it unlikely there will ever be enough money in the fund for taxpayers to ever get any more property tax relief even as property taxes go up with inflation.
The liberal spin is saying Joyce Elliott just voted for a little ole tax bill, everyone was doing it, and it shouldn’t matter. Again, ask the Republicans who were defeated in the primary election as to whether raising taxes mattered in their races.
You have a choice on November 3rd. Congressman French Hill (R) or Joyce Elliott (D).
If you like higher taxes you will love Democrat Joyce Elliott.
Brenda Vassaur Taylor is an Arkansas tax attorney and cofounder of Conduit For Action Inc.
[i] https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2020/sep/15/case-for-optimism-well/
[ii] SB571 as it existed when Joyce Elliott voted for it. ftp://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/bills/2019R/Public/sb571/SB571031920191341.pdf
[iii] The middle-income tax relief bill passed the Senate without Elliott’s vote and was amended and passed by the House of Representatives, and then the bill came back to the Senate to vote on whether to concur with the House amendment. When the concurrence in the amendment came for a vote, Elliott voted for the amendment. First voting to concur in an amendment is not the same thing as voting “FOR” the bill. Second you should also note that no Senator voted against concurrence in the amendment.
