I testified before the Committee of the Whole as an individual taxpayer because I am tired of watching the District's tax structure lean hardest on the people least able to carry it. Low-wage workers, retired seniors, and people living on fixed incomes should not be asked to keep making up the difference while large corporations benefit from rules that do not reflect basic fairness. I spoke up because this is not abstract policy to me. It is about whether our tax code serves District residents or keeps rewarding an uneven system.

This affects far more than one hearing room or one taxpayer. When the tax structure is out of balance, everyday residents feel it in the cost of living and in the pressure placed on households already stretching every dollar. Seniors on fixed incomes cannot simply absorb more costs. Working people at the lower end of the wage scale cannot keep subsidizing a system that lets corporate tax obligations be calculated in a way that leaves the District short.

The Council should pass the Combined Reporting Amendment Act and shift corporate taxation from the Joyce method to the Finnegan method. Other jurisdictions have already adopted this approach, and the District should stop lagging behind when a fairer framework is available. If this change increases sales tax revenue for the benefit of District residents, then that revenue should help relieve the strain on the people who need a more just system most.

I am asking neighbors, taxpayers, and everyone who believes the District can do better to sign this petition. If we want a tax code that respects working people, retirees, and residents on fixed incomes, we need to say so clearly. The Council has the opportunity to act, and we should demand that it do just that.