April 28, 2025

As Congress returns to hammer out the budget this week, a quick reminder: gutting programs for working families isn't a necessity — it’s a choice to put billionaires first.

LAST WEEK: President Trump and Speaker Johnson shut the door on taxing millionaires to help pay for their “big beautiful bill.”

• Trump said: “it would be very disruptive, because a lot of the millionaires would leave the country. The old days, they left states. They go from one state to the other.”

TODAY: New research shows that’s just not true. In states with a millionaires tax like Massachusetts and Washington, the wealthy have stayed, revenues beat expectations, and the money is funding programs that expand opportunity for everyone.

• The report from the Institute for Policy Studies and State Revenue Alliance says that states: “have seen tremendous growth in the number of people with more than $1 million in total wealth since raising taxes on higher earners. The revenue generated from these tax payments exceeded expectations and is helping fund essential programs that expand economic opportunity for all.”

BOTTOM LINE: Millionaires aren’t moving anywhere because of taxes. So every benefit cut that gets written into law is proof that lawmakers chose to harm everyday Americans instead of asking slightly more of the ultra-rich.

The people are watching, and making clear across state red and blue what these types of cuts would mean for their families. So as markups begin -- lawmakers should choose wisely.