Americans for Tax Reform hits Bentley for trying to ‘raise taxes on Alabama families’

WASHINGTON — Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), the country’s leading anti-tax group, on Monday criticized Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley for proposing the elimination of certain state income tax deductions as a solution for the state’s budget woes.

“Enacting legislation that burdens taxpayers with higher taxes and fees to fuel exorbitant state spending, goes against his written promise to the people of Alabama to ‘oppose and veto any and all efforts to increase taxes,'” the group wrote on its website.

ATR is lead by Grover Norquist, who founded the taxpayer advocacy group in 1985 at the request of then-President Ronald Reagan. ATR is perhaps best known for organizing the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, which asks all candidates for federal and state office to commit themselves in writing to the American people to oppose all tax increases. In the 113th Congress, 219 House members and 41 Senators have taken the pledge. On the state level, 14 governors — including Gov. Bentley — and 1,035 state legislators have taken the pledge.

Norquist has been a polarizing figure in national politics in recent years.

Arianna Huffington called him “The dark wizard of the Right’s anti-tax cult” and Politico described him as “the high priest of anti-tax orthodoxy who’s convinced nearly every elected Republican to sign a pledge not to raise taxes.” Former Republican U.S. Sen. Alan Simpson went so far as to call Norquist “the most powerful man in America” because of the stranglehold the taxpayer pledge had on Republican lawmakers.

Here’s the full release ATR published criticizing Gov. Bentley’s recent comments:

Alabama Governor Robert Bentley, a Taxpayer Protection Pledge signer, publicly endorsed eliminating tax deductions for Alabama families as a means for solving the state’s overspending problem last Monday.

According to the [Yellowhammer State’s] governor, eliminating tax deductions is not the same as raising taxes.

“I am not for raising taxes and this actually would not be raising taxes,” Bentley said. “It would be taking away some deductions. That is certainly one of the things we’ll be looking at.”

Bentley is wrong. By signing the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, the governor has committed to “oppos[ing] changes in tax deductions or credits that increase the net tax burden on Americans.”

Enacting legislation that burdens taxpayers with higher taxes and fees to fuel exorbitant state spending, goes against his written promise to the people of Alabama to “oppose and veto any and all efforts to increase taxes.” Americans for Tax Reform encourages Gov. Bentley to pursue revenue neutral, pro-growth tax reform and enact spending restraint instead of raising taxes on Alabama families. He should look to the tax reform efforts in Kansas and Wisconsin as a model for the 2015 legislative session.

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— Cliff Sims (@Cliff_Sims) December 3, 2014