Abrams Proposes Earned Income Tax Credit for Georgia

Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Stacey Abrams says she wants an Earned Income Tax Credit in Georgia.

Unveiling her sweeping “Economic Mobility Plan” on Thursday (PDF), Abrams said Georgia’s version would start with a refundable credit at 5% of the federal EITC. Eventually the state EITC would move to a 10% credit. The cost of the Georgia EITC is $150 million which would come from tax loophole elimination.

Data in a handout supplied by the Abrams campaign says an estimated 2.6 million Georgians were eligible for the federal EITC in 2015.

The other elements of her economic proposal included measures to improve financial and adult literacy, preventing wage theft and most importantly in the Democratic primary: ending workplace discrimination and eliminating wage gaps between men and women (Abrams made particular effort to stress the wage gap for women of color is even more disparate).

As governor, Abrams said she would use the “larger imprimatur” of the office influencing “every single level of government” to ensure her policy goals were met.

“We have a responsibility to say this is how we want to operate” Abrams said during the announcement.