Overview
- Sen. Chris Van Hollen’s bill would exempt basic living income pegged to MIT’s Living Wage Calculator, leaving individuals under $46,000 and married couples under $92,000 owing no federal income tax.
- Van Hollen’s proposal includes an alternative maximum tax with phased eligibility and a tiered surtax on very high incomes that Yale Budget Lab estimates would raise about $1.46 trillion over 10 years from roughly 615,000 filers.
- Sen. Cory Booker’s Keep Your Pay Act would sharply raise the universal standard deduction to $75,000 for married couples, with Yale estimating a 10‑year cost of about $5.3 trillion.
- Analysts at ITEP and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities say the lowest‑income households would see little or no benefit, while Penn Wharton finds larger absolute cuts under Booker’s plan for households earning $100,000 to $200,000.
- Republicans, including Rep. Jason Smith, criticize the proposals and question feasibility, and the measures face long odds in a closely divided Congress with no changes to payroll or state and local taxes.