Advocacy & Policy
Click here to read our latesgggggg how federal tax changes will affect Marylanders.
Click here to read recommended strategies and steps to counteract harms of federal tax bill.
During the 2017 legislative session, we followed bills on topics such as asset-building, credit, the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), consumer protection, and other relevant topics.
Click here to see our 2017 legislative wrap-up.
To view our past legislative victories, Click here.
Click here to read recommended strategies and steps to counteract harms of federal tax bill.
During the 2017 legislative session, we followed bills on topics such as asset-building, credit, the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), consumer protection, and other relevant topics.
Click here to see our 2017 legislative wrap-up.
To view our past legislative victories, Click here.
2017 Policy Priority: Working to Expand Maryland’s EITC for Younger Workers, Not Claiming Dependents
For the 2017 legislative session, our priority was to expand Maryland’s Earned Income Tax Credit in the following ways:
- By lowering the age requirement to 18
- Increasing the income requirement to $23,000
- Increasing the State EITC to 100% of the Federal EITC for single filers and 28% for filers with dependents.
The policy ( HB 2 / SB 14 ) would provide an average benefit of $375 to 240,000 low-income workers. Unfortunately, despite widespread support for an expanded EITC in Maryland, the bill did not pass due to cost concerns. Although the bill did not pass, we continued to build momentum and consensus that young, low-income workers must be helped. Sign up to join our EITC coalition so we can continue to advocate for a stronger EITC in Maryland!
2017: A Great Year for the Maryland Consumer!
Below are significant consumer protections wins during Maryland’s 2017 legislative session:
- Payday Lending Regulation ( HB1270 / SB527 ): Stops predatory payday loan sharks from charging interest, fees, and other charges in excess of Maryland’s 33% annual interest cap. The industry hired top lobbyists to fight the bill but consumer advocates fought back hard, passing the bill unanimously in the House and 40-5 in the Senate, and torpedoed all harmful amendments.
- Taxpayer Protection Act ( HB424 / SB304 ): Increases regulations of tax preparers and provides the Comptroller and Attorney General with broader powers to prosecute fraudulent and predatory tax preparers. The Comptroller blocked 54 tax preparers from filing suspected fraudulent returns this year.
- Maryland Financial Consumer Protection Commission ( HB1134 / SB0884 ): Creates a state-level Financial Consumer Protection Commission to study the impact that the federal Dodd-Frank Act regulation repeals could have on the state.
- Credit Report Security Freezes (Fees) ( HB212 / SB270 ): Prevents data breach victims from having to pay fees for freezing their credit reports.
Stay in Touch!
The CASH Campaign of Maryland works with a network of state policy groups from around the country as part of Prosperity Now!
Check out the 2017 Prosperity Now Scorecard and CASH Press Release.
For more information on advocacy and research from CASH Campaign of Maryland, please contact Holly@cashmd.org