Mark Brnovich / Gage Skidmore/CC BY-SA 2.0
By Laura Olson | Arizona Mirror
Republican attorneys general from 21 states are attacking the $1.9 trillion pandemic relief law as an “unprecedented and unconstitutional infringement” on state sovereignty because it restricts tax cuts by states.
The attorneys general in a letter to the Treasury Department threatened to take action against the Biden administration over the law’s tax cut provision. The group includes attorneys general from Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri and Montana.
They are criticizing a section of the bill that prohibits states and local governments from using $350 billion in direct federal assistance “to either directly or indirectly offset a reduction in the net tax revenue” or delay the imposition of any tax or tax increase.
The broad phrasing has spurred confusion over what exactly states can and can’t do to their tax rates without jeopardizing the billions in federal assistance, particularly in states where tax cuts already are in the works.
“A view of state tax policy this expansive by the federal government would not only be a giant overreach, but it would represent an unprecedented and unconstitutional infringement upon Arizona’s sovereignty,” Arizona AG Mark Brnovich said on Twitter.
