Transcript Slide 1

A program of Kim Klein, CompassPoint Nonprofit Services
and the Building Movement Project
We believe:
• The values implied in the phrase “the common good” are
fundamental to a healthy democracy.
• For democracy to thrive, people must be able to engage in
wide-ranging conversations that encourage us to think for
ourselves and join with others to act on our beliefs.
• The nonprofit sector is part of the common good, and thus
must be a leader in promoting meaningful conversation and
action.
Goals:
• Learn simple tools for leading and participating in
conversations about the common good
• Understand the potential of nonprofits to be a force
for change
• Look at fair and just tax policy as a key example of a
commons conversation
A Definition
The Common Good:
means ensuring that the
social systems, institutions,
and environments on which
we all depend work in a
manner that benefits all
living beings and the earth
itself.
Common Good Principle
A commons-based society is structured so that
everyone can have a good life. This means that most
people can say YES to these questions
For the most part, for most of your life,
1) Are you happy?
2) Are you physically safe and financially secure?
3) Are you able to make real choices about the course
of your life?
An easy explanation of the
common good:
“We all do
better
when
we all do
better.”
—Senator Paul Wellstone, MN
(1944-2002)
Your turn:
What does your nonprofit do for
the common good?
Examples of Common Good Structures
How is the common good paid for?
By a combination of taxes, private donations, volunteer
time, and human behavior that recognizes our
individual role in a larger community.
The percentage that each contributes varies greatly.
Example: Trash in a Public Park
• The city owns and maintains the
park using tax dollars.
• People put trash in the can.
• But not all trash gets in the can, so
sometimes individuals pick it up…
• …or nonprofits schedule “clean up
days” to clean the park thoroughly
once a year…
• And the city hauls the trash away.
A BALANCED SYSTEM
photo credit Wayan Vota, OnTask via Flickr
What happens when the
system is out of balance?
• The city owns the park, but
because of tax cuts trash is not
picked up.
• Clean-up days are cancelled
because of rat sightings.
• Because of cuts in services to
homeless people, some sleep
at the edge of the park.
• People no longer use the park
and soon it is…”CLOSED”
Photo credit: pwever
“Power concedes nothing
without a demand.”
—Frederick Douglass
What Can Nonprofits Do?
1. Understand Our Influence
The Nonprofit Sector nationally:
• 1.6 million nonprofit organizations generate:
$1.4 trillion per year in income from:
–Government : 30%
–Earned Income: 50%
–Private Sector: 20%
The private sector includes gifts from living individuals, gifts from bequests, and gifts and
grants from foundations and corporations.
Figures as of 2012. Source: National Center for Charitable Statistics and Foundation Center
nd
2
California has
largest nonprofit
workforce in the USA
112,000 nonprofits generate:
• $160 billion per year
• Employ 8.5% of workforce—about
750,000 people
Source: Employment in America’s Charities, Salamon and Sokolowski, 2006.
http://www.adm-cf.com/jhu/pdfs/Featured_Links/EIAC.pdf
Your State Here
YOU can also break this down by county and even city.
2. Make the Common Good a
Common Conversation
“Every single one of us has something to say to the
others…” Eduardo Galeano, noted Uruguyan author
Listening
Styles
Photo credit: garageolimpo via flickr
Competitive
• Listening with judgment
• Lack of attention
• Waiting to make a point
or intervene
Collaborative
• Open
• Full attention to words
and what’s behind them
• Not necessary to intervene
What could happen if we asked…
Is a tax on
soda a good
idea?
Would you pay
slightly more in taxes
if it kept food banks
& health clinics open?
Does voting
really make a
difference?
Should dog
parks be paid
for with tax
dollars?
Practice engaged listening to fully
understand another’s
point of view
Understanding More Fully
What I heard you
say was….
I think you are
saying… is that
correct?
Understanding Correctly
Please tell me more…
What was important to
you about that?
Can you give me an
example?
What did you want in
that situation?
Ask open-ended questions
What was one of
your first
memories about
taxes?
When have you
thought, “That was
a good use of tax
money?” and when,
“That was a waste
of public money?”
Do you see any
solutions to our state
budget crisis?
3. Understand the Basics
One thing we know….
There are
enough
resources in the
United States.
We can be the
country we
want to be.
http://www.lao.ca.gov/reports/2011/calfacts/calfacts_010511.aspx#zzee_l
ink_2_1294170707
What values would you want a tax
structure to reflect?
Examples:
- Equality?
- Ability to pay?
- Age?
- Rewarding behavior?
Principles of Fair and Just Tax Policy
1. Raises adequate revenues to pay for the public
needs of society
2. Is progressive
3. Offers incentives for behavior that benefits the
common good
4. Remedies inequality as much as possible
5. Is efficient and simple to administer
(From “Making Sense of the Tax Debate” by Amata Miller)
Early Thoughts On Taxes
The legitimate object of
government, is to do for a
community of people,
whatever they need to have
done, but can not do, at all,
or can not, so well do, for
themselves -- in their
separate, and individual
capacities.
- Abraham Lincoln,
1854
Some Definitions
• “Progressive” and
“regressive,” when applied to
taxes, are economic terms,
not value judgments.
• Progressive means that the
tax rate increases as a
person’s ability to pay
increases.
• Regressive means that one
tax rate applies to all (flat
tax); this puts a greater
burden on people who have
less ability to pay.
Photo credit: Anne Ryan
Types of Taxes –
Progressive or Regressive?
Sales tax:
 Cigarettes
 Clothes
 Gas
 Alcohol
What are the common good
issues in deciding whether
a sales tax on a commodity
is a good idea or not?
Types of Taxes –
Progressive or Regressive?
Property tax:
Taxes are higher on a more expensive property, and
they increase as the value of the property
appreciates.
Fair? Not fair? How would you design this tax?
Types of Taxes –
Progressive or Regressive
Income tax:
Regressive: Pay the same percentage on every dollar earned.
With a flat tax of 10%, tax on $25,000 income would be $2,500.
Progressive: Pay more as earnings increase. For example, on
income of $100,000:
(Numbers used are just to illustrate the concept)
Income
Tax Percentage
Dollar Amount
First $25,000
0%
$0
Second $25,000
10%
$2,500
Third $25,000
20%
$5,000
Fourth $25,000
30%
$7,500
Total income: $100,000
Total tax: $15,000
(before deductions)
What’s behind
California’s budget issues?
A 2/3rds vote of the Legislature is needed
to create any new revenue streams. It is
nearly impossible to get a 2/3rds vote.
This 2/3rds threshold was created by two propositions:
– Prop 13, passed in 1978, which applied to taxes
– Prop 26, passed in 2010, which applied to fees
Commercial Property
Not Paying Its Share
• Prop 13 kept property taxes
for both residential and
commercial property at their
1977 levels until sold.
• Corporations rarely sell their
property; even when they
do, the property transfer
does not trigger a
reassessment.
• Corporations have
benefitted far more from
Prop 13 than any one else.
Proposition 13
Pros
• Helped elderly people
and families on fixed
incomes maintain
ownership of their
homes
Cons
•
Corporations don’t pay
their fair share of property
tax
•
Hurts younger generations
of Californians
Tax cuts can pass easily, but tax increases
are almost impossible to pass
• Tax cuts can be made with a simple majority of
legislators: 50% + 1
• Tax increases can only be made
with two-thirds of the
legislature: 66% + 1
• A tax increase can be defeated
by just a few legislators.
Consequences When Taxes
Are Cut
• State funding for nonprofit services
is decreasing
• Need is rising
• Costs are rising
Bringing It Back to Conversation
People are complex:
we often have layers
of opinions.
In a true
conversation, we shift
from needing to get
our own way or to
win and we focus on
hearing each other.
Reminder:
Listening
Styles
Photo credit: garageolimpo via flickr
Competitive
• Listening with judgment
• Lack of attention
• Waiting to make a point
or intervene
Collaborative
• Open
• Full attention to words
and what’s behind them
• Not necessary to intervene
4. Know What Can Be Done
Feeling
discouraged?
Don’t.
Can nonprofits
make a
difference?
Yes!
1.
How?
2.
Learn some of the
options
Remember what
we’ve already
accomplished
1.
Split into two teams
2.
Elect one representative to be your first buzzer
3.
Practice sound effects:
•
Ding, ding, ding!
•
Awwww!
1. The ____ movement helped to pass
the____ amendment so that women
gained the right to vote.
- The Women’s Suffrage
Movement
- the 19th Amendment
Women’s Suffrage in the United States was won in 1920, with
much help from the National American Woman Suffrage
Association, a nonprofit organization.
2. Using ___________, the Innocence
Project has helped over 300 people get out
of prison.
Answer:
DNA Testing
The Innocence Project’s use of DNA technology to free
innocent people has provided irrefutable proof that wrongful
convictions are not isolated events but arise from systemic
defects in our justice system.
3. True or False: It is impossible to ensure
that our Social Security system will remain
healthy indefinitely.
Answer:
False
Currently you pay Social Security Tax
on the first $113,000 of your income.
Raising the cap to the first $190,000
would insure that Social Security
remained healthy indefinitely.
4. Who are 56% of the adult population
but only 36% of likely voters in California?
People of
Color
The nonprofit California Calls is changing that. In the 2012 election, they
turned out 124,000 low income voters, primarily people of color, which had a
significant influence on the outcome of several state initiatives, including Prop
30, which stopped significant funding cuts to schools and social services.
5. The ____ helped to end school
segregation by winning the____ Supreme
Court case.
- The NAACP
- Brown v. Board of
Education
The Brown decision inspired the marches and
demonstrations of the Civil Rights Movement
of the 1950s and '60s; and the NAACP and
other organizations contributed to the
organizing and legal victories of that period.
6: Cities and states often subsidize a
business with tax dollars because the
business promises to _________
Create
new jobs
Cities and states could recover millions of dollars when stronger
“clawback” provisions and enforcement allow them to make
delinquent companies return taxpayer subsidies if they relocated or
didn’t actually add new jobs.
Photo credit: Andreas Klinke Johannsen via Flickr
7: Which nonprofit was the first to launch
the Montgomery bus boycott that
ultimately brought Dr. King to prominence?
Answer:
Women’s Political
Council
8. True or False: Income from the sale of
stock taxed at the same rate as income
earned from work at the FEDERAL level.
False
Income from the sale of assets,
called ‘capital gains’, is taxed at
0-20% depending on several
factors. This is why Warren Buffett
noted that his secretary paid more taxes
on her last dollar of income than he did.
Photo: 401k 2013 via Flickr
9. In 25 years, the number of alcoholrelated traffic deaths each year has gone
from 30,000 to 17,000. This decrease is
due largely to the efforts of what
nonprofit?
Answer:
MADD
Mothers Against
Drunk Driving
The Winners!
“In conversation, we are called
upon to see things from another’s
point of view.”
Sherry Turkle, MIT Professor, in NYT Op-Ed
Photo credit: Ame Otoko via Flickr
Some of these things are proposed solutions
and some have already happened. But all of them
require or required discussion.
• What are the pros and cons of each one?
• Are their better solutions?
• Are their consequences we need to address?
We won’t know without more conversation.
VOTING Expresses Values
What Can I do?
1. Talk with others about what should be paid for by
taxes and what should be paid for privately.
2. Talk with co-workers about ways the tax structure
could be changed to reflect common good values.
3. Resolve not to be intimidated by people who say
“this is too complicated” or those who cannot see
anything positive in government.
4. If you can, vote and encourage others to vote.
What Can Our
Nonprofit Do?
Level 1: Have a staff-wide conversation or brown bag lunch
meeting about both how your nonprofit affects the
common good and how it depends on it.
Level 2: Invite colleagues from other nonprofits to learn more
and see if there is joint action you all can take.
Level 3: Reach out to an organization in another nonprofit field
(for example, if you work in the arts reach out to an
environmental group or a health organization), and
discuss how you can support each other’s advocacy
efforts.
Keep in Mind:
• You don’t have to know all the answers or have all
the facts. (That’s what search engines are for.)
• Your health and well-being is part of the common
good and you need to be involved in maintaining
it, or when needed, restoring it or expanding it.
• You have the right to have opinions and to change
your opinions.
• Your thoughts matter.
www.nonprofitstalkingtaxes.org
Nonprofit Vote: www.nonprofitvote.org
Alliance for Justice: www.afj.org
California Calls: www.cacalls.org
California Budget Project: www.cbp.org
Too Much: www.toomuchonline.org
California Participation Project: www.caparticipates.org
CURB: Californians United for a Responsible Budget:
www.curbprisonspending.org
Follow us!
Facebook: www.facebook.com/npstalkingtaxesCA
Twitter: www.twitter.com/npstalkingtaxesCA
Special thanks to these people for their help with the information and quality of
this presentation:
Anne Ryan, Kim Klein, Steve Lew, Mary Vradalis, Claudia Pena, Rebecca Bauen,
Adriana Rocha, Cary Sanders, Ellen Wu, Marty Martinez, Sue Bennett, Ruben
Cantu, the Building Movement Project team, and Myn Adess
Thanks to our Funders: Gerbode Foundation and Haas Jr. Foundation