Matt Mahan

They are mostly very progressive, which I support.

Those who make more, earn more, do better in society should pay more back into the pot to help everybody else.

So I don't mind at all.

In fact, I very much support the fact that we have one of the most progressive tax structures in the country.

In fact, the only thing I would say about that is it is a bit of a risk and a vulnerability.

40

percent of our we charge an income tax.

It's a major source of revenue for the state.

Forty percent of that revenue, sometimes up to 50 percent, comes from the top one percent of earners each year.

So we are very concentrated and vulnerable to capital flight because it's the top earners who pay most of the revenue.

We also have some of the oddly enough, some of the most regressive taxes.

And so if anything, where I would look

to maybe modify things with something like our gas tax.

So wealthier folks are buying EVs and are sort of opting out of gas tax by doing that.

And that's a good thing.

We want EV adoption, we want cleaner air, I'm all for it.

But what's happening by default is,

Those who can't afford EVs and are still driving gas-powered vehicles and driving longer distances, which also happens to correlate with lower-income communities like the one I grew up in, rural communities in particular, are paying the disproportionate share of the nation's highest gas taxes that go to maintaining the roads.

So-

That needs to be right-sized.