The National Women’s Law Center submitted a statement for the record to the Ways and Means Committee following a hearing on making temporary provisions of the 2017 tax law permanent, which would largely benefit the wealthiest Americans and profitable corporations, leaving families behind.

The primary purpose of the tax code is to raise revenue to support the priorities we all rely on. According to public reports, House Republicans plan to cut Medicaid, SNAP, TANF and more, to pay for extending the expiring provisions of the 2017 tax law and enacting even more tax cuts for wealthy Americans. Depriving families of food, medical care, and support to meet their basic needs in order to provide even more tax cuts for billionaires and big corporations is the wrong direction for our tax policy.

Chronic underinvestment in women and families continues to exacerbate racial and gender inequities. Tax policy that further limits federal revenue moves us further from an economy that works for all of us. Our national failure to make robust public investments in child care, paid family and medical leave, and aging and disability care lowers women’s incomes, negatively impacts health and well-being, harms employers, and weakens the economy.

In 2017, the passage of the law known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) continued the failed strategy of “trickle-down” economics by enacting large tax cuts for wealthy individuals and corporations. This strategy both continues to constrain the fiscal space to make the investments we need, and even on its own terms, has failed to deliver on its promises. As many families struggle to make ends meet, find and afford care, and meet their basic necessities, Congress should prioritize supporting families rather than passing even more tax cuts at the top.

We wrote to urge the House Ways and Means Committee and Congress to prioritize the needs of women and families who have been left behind in tax legislation. We should let the TCJA provisions that benefit the wealthiest expire, and certainly there is no cause to enact even more tax cuts for the top. Instead, we should make sure the wealthy and big corporations are paying their fair share. In addition, Congress should pay careful attention to the design of refundable tax credits so they are helping the families that need it most.