FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
MONDAY, MAY 4, 2020

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New Tax March Ad Urges Sen. Collins to Put Workers Ahead of Big Corporations 

MAINE — Tax March, the grassroots movement for a fairer and more equitable tax code, unveiled a new ad today calling on Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) to put working- and middle-class Mainers ahead of big corporations, especially during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The ad is the final ad in a seven-figure campaign to hold President Trump and four Republican senators accountable for their support of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and push back against a coronavirus response that gives away more to corporations than working people.

“With 13 percent of Mainers filing for unemployment insurance right now, and more than 1,000 cases of coronavirus across the state, Sen. Collins owes it to the people she represents to prioritize their livelihoods over corporate handouts,” said Tax March Campaign Director Dana Bye. “Small businesses are shuttering, nursing homes and community health centers are crumbling without necessary equipment and tests, and Maine families are struggling to make ends meet. If Susan Collins actually means what she says, she’ll bring forward legislation to provide relief for Maine’s struggling families and small business owners — not megacorporations and her wealthy donors.”

The ad focuses on Collins’ failure to prioritize Mainers’ needs in coronavirus relief legislation and her vote for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and calls on Collins to stop prioritizing corporations at the expense of Maine workers. Thanks to the tax law, Sen. Collins gave big corporations and her own donors a $91 billion tax break. 

The first ad in the campaign, a radio spot called “Alexa,” explained how Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) bought thousands of dollars in Amazon stock just two days after voting for the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Perdue was later implicated in another insider-trading scandal, having offloaded stock following a closed-door briefing on the coronavirus threat. Another ad, in Wisconsin, highlighted a small business owner’s concerns about not getting support during the coronavirus pandemic. The third ad, called “Lie,” focused on holding Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) and Trump accountable for giving Mack Trucks’ foreign owners a $92 million tax break, only for the company to turn around and fire hundreds of Pennsylvania workers as the coronavirus pandemic was spreading across the country.