Washington, DC - [Raul Yzaguirre, President of the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the nation's largest Latino civil rights organization, expressed outrage today at the Senate's enactment of an enormous tax cut package. He issued the following statement:]

Last week, the Senate passed S. 1054, the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003, a $350 billion tax cut. The bill imposes grave financial risks on the federal government and simultaneously threatens key domestic priorities such as education, health, and job training. This may be a political "victory" for the Bush Administration, but it's nothing short of a tragedy for working families.

The acceleration of tax cuts enacted in 2001 - a major provision of S. 1054 - excludes many Hispanic working families, many of whom are disproportionately burdened by payroll, sales, and other taxes, more so than federal income tax. As in the past, however, tax relief comes in the form of top-heavy tax cuts geared to improving the economic well-being of the most affluent, rather than providing an immediate stimulus to benefit the majority of Americans. While Enron's now discredited management will benefit mightily from these tax cuts, the innocent workers and investors who suffered from the company's demise get nothing.

Moreover, the Senate approved an amendment to S. 1054, which implements a $124 billion tax cut on stock dividend income, benefiting the wealthiest Americans at the expense of millions of hardworking low- and moderate-income families, including an overwhelming majority of Latinos. The elimination of the tax on dividend income would provide few, if any, benefits for most Hispanics. Far too many Latinos work for low wages, and a vast majority does not own stock or participate in any employer-sponsored pension plans, including those that rely on dividend income. The adoption of this amendment renders the underlying plan even more expensive, risky, and inequitable.

In the last two years the federal government has gone from large budget surpluses to huge budget deficits creating a need for greater, not smaller, investments in federal and state programs. Although S. 1054 provides for modest relief to the states - half of which are now facing budget shortfalls - it still takes the nation down a path of perpetually growing deficits, which undermine the financial markets and hinder economic growth. Ultimately, this reduces the federal government's ability to meet its obligations in education, health care, and workforce development, as well as other programs that benefit Latino families at the very time they are most needed.

For example, the President deserves credit for his leadership in enacting a major education bill last year; unfortunately, his budget shortchanges our schools and students he claims to want to help. To illustrate, although programs to help immigrant students succeed are authorized at $750 million per year, the Administration proposes only $665 million. In short, over half a million English language learners are "left behind" in order to cut taxes for multimillionaires.

The Bush Administration also opposes the Immigrant Children's Health Improvement Act (ICHIA), which would restore Medicaid and SCHIP eligibility for legal immigrant children and pregnant women, because it's "too expensive." However, the program's $2.24 billion cost over ten years pales in comparison to the tax bill's massive giveaway to the rich.

Lastly, the Administration has rescinded funds for existing job training programs and opposes significant increases in the Workforce Investment Act (WIA). This despite the fact that two million jobs have been lost since President Bush has taken office, and the unemployment rate for Latinos has hovered at 7.5%, which is 25% higher than the national average.

In order to have a real, direct impact on Latino working families and a stimulative effect on the economy, tax rebates to working families regardless of tax liability and an extension of Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits - elements presented in other proposals - could have been included in the Senate's economic growth package. These provisions would have benefited many Latinos, especially those who have lost their jobs and do not qualify for UI or will begin to exhaust their benefits by the end of this month; but because of the Bush Administration's opposition, tax relief for working Hispanic families was left out of the bill.

Instead of just cutting taxes for the wealthy, Congress and the Administration should be working to provide tax relief for working families and to fund education, health, and job training priorities fully.

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