Green National Committee Approves Five Fair Taxation Amendments, Three Fall Short

The Green National Committee has approved five amendments to the Green Party’s national platform, including language supporting a 94 percent top marginal income tax rate on the wealthiest Americans. Three additional proposals failed.

Voting ended Sunday on eight amendments to the Fair Taxation section of the party’s Economic Justice and Sustainability platform. A vote on a ninth proposal that would have added language calling for companies extracting resources from public property to pay fees or royalties was canceled earlier in the month without an explanation.

The first five proposals were introduced September 14, followed by four more two days later. All were brought forward by the Green Party Platform Committee and sponsored by the Arizona Green Party and the national party’s Banking and Monetary Reform Committee. Approval required a two-thirds majority of votes cast for or against each proposal.

Beyond the language supporting higher income tax rates for the wealthiest individuals, other approved amendments called for exempting individuals earning less than twice median income from federal, state, and local income taxes, and making Social Security and Medicare taxes progressive while extending them to investment income and earnings above the existing Social Security tax cap. Delegates also approved language calling for the elimination of public road tolls and entry fees at government owned parks, museums, and monuments.

The committee additionally approved changes to the introductory language of the Fair Taxation section, with revisions to the version proposed in September. The original proposal was withdrawn during consideration and reintroduced with minor wording and grammatical changes before delegates approved the replacement.

The unsuccessful proposals, meanwhile, would have added language supporting a top corporate income tax rate matching the individual rate endorsed in another amendment, called for a substantially higher annual wealth tax, and revised the party’s existing provision on tax cuts for workers to refer specifically to wage and salary work. All three received more votes in favor than against, with the tax-cut amendment falling just one vote short of adoption.

A full breakdown of the results is below: