Crapo, Scott File Amicus Brief in Support of State Fiscal Flexibility
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) joined Finance Committee member Tim Scott (R-South Carolina) in leading an amicus brief, filed by the American Center for Law and Justice, in support of Ohio’s lawsuit in Ohio v. Yellen, a lawsuit charging that the recently-passed American Jobs Act unlawfully restricts the states’ ability to reduce taxes.
“The vague nature of the ‘no tax cuts’ provision has injected uncertainty into state fiscal policy decisions, and, as predicted, has invited lawsuits,” said Senator Crapo. “It provides so much latitude for the administration to decide, at the federal level, what it deems to be appropriate or inappropriate state fiscal policy that the Treasury Secretary is essentially unconstrained in implementation. The provision serves no useful purpose, and has inserted partisan politics into federal and state relations.”
“Washington bureaucrats are the last people who should be setting fiscal policy for South Carolina,” said Senator Scott. “I am grateful to Senator Crapo and the rest of our colleagues for standing with me to ensure we bring an end to this unconstitutional, partisan federal overreach.”
The brief focuses on the tax cut restrictions found in section 602 of the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds, arguing that the provision exceeds Congress’s power under the Spending Clause, and that the conditions exceed the conditioning power recognized by the Supreme Court.
Link to the brief here.
Link to the ACLJ press release and full list of Congressional signators here.
LIST OF SENATE SIGNATORS
Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho)
Senator Tim Scott (R-South Carolina)
Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyoming)
Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee)
Senator John Boozman (R-Arkansas)
Senator Mike Braun (R-Indiana)
Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas)
Senator Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota)
Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas)
Senator Steve Daines (R-Montana)
Senator Bill Hagerty (R-Tennessee)
Senator James Lankford (R-Oklahoma)
Senator Roger Marshall (R-Kansas)
Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio)
Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho)
Senator Ben Sasse (R-Nebraska)
Senator Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina)
Senator Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi)
Senator Todd Young (R-Indiana)
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