Md. bill to aid immigrant workers provokes lively debate, advances

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ANNAPOLIS — The Maryland Senate voted Wednesday to give preliminary approval to a bill that would provide tax credits to many immigrant workers, including those who are undocumented.

The credits over the next three years would be identical to what is given to residents eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit. The bill, part of an agreement between the House and Senate leaders last week, came after a similar provision threatened to derail efforts to pass a $1.2 billion stimulus bill to help individuals and businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Wednesday, as last week, the provision touched off a passionate debate about providing economic aid to undocumented workers in Maryland.

“This bill is to make sure that we treat all taxpaying working people in Maryland equally,” said Sen. Jim Rosapepe, D-Prince George’s and Anne Arundel Counties.

Lawmakers over the last two weeks expressed concern about a lack of aid going to low-wage immigrant workers who have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic over the last 11 months.

“We need to stop being self-righteous and think about the fact that the people you are talking about withholding this tiny credit from are people who are, in many cases, cleaning the bathrooms where we go and the public spaces,” said Sen. Delores Kelley, D-Baltimore County and chair of the Senate Finance Committee. “They are doing work that many American citizens don’t want to do. They are not sitting on the sidelines doing nothing but waiting for a credit. They are at the bottom rung of the socio-economic ladder in this country but they are part of the economic infrastructure.”

Senate Republicans denounced the bill, saying it would ultimately provide an incentive for undocumented immigrants to continue to come to the state.

“It’s not about being self-righteous,” said Sen. Bryan Simonaire, R-Anne Arundel and Senate minority leader. “It’s about a philosophical difference. We have laws. Should we obey them and should we as a body take money from taxpaying citizens and give money to those who are unlawfully in our state? It’s just a basic philosophical question.”

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Nancy King, D-Montgomery, is the result of a compromise reached last week between leaders in the House and Senate in an effort to pass a coronavirus relieve package proposed by Republican Gov. Larry Hogan.

In that bill, low-income workers eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit saw their benefits doubled to about $1,100.

Members of the House Maryland Latino and Legislative Black Caucuses pressed for language that would provide an identical benefit for low-wage workers who file using an Individual Tax Identification number. The ITIN number is used by immigrants, including undocumented immigrants, to pay taxes.

“This is $60 million a year that we’re handing out to people who are not here legally,”  said Sen. Justin Ready, R-Carroll, noting that lawmakers recently overrode vetoes blocking bills increasing taxes on digital ads, downloads and tobacco that is expected to generate $100 million.

“Now we’re basically handing almost half of that back every year to people who are not here legally,” said Ready.

Under federal and state law, ITIN filers are not eligible for a number of benefits, including Social Security, child care tax credits and the Earned Income Tax Credit. In 2019, more than 86,000 ITIN filers in Maryland paid more than $64.2 million in taxes, according to the comptroller’s office.

Sen. Guy Guzzone, D-Howard County and chairman of the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee, called the federal model a failure.

“What do you do when you have a system that has failed and philosophically, to get back to the minority leader’s point, what do you do in the middle of a pandemic when people are hurting, when communities are hurting?” asked Guzzone. “Where an infusion of dollars can actually make a huge difference in communities, for all the people in those communities. What do you do when you know the system doesn’t work? Well, in my experience, you have to sort of pull back as a human and think about social justice. Think about what’s right.”

The provisions of Senate Bill 218 make good on the House and Senate agreement. Low-wage ITIN workers who meet the earned income tax credit qualifications would be eligible for the identical tax benefit.

In 2019, there were roughly 60,000 ITIN taxpayers who would have been eligible under the proposal, according to data from the Office of the Comptroller.

Senate Republicans estimate that the cost of the bill for each of the three years would be about $66 million.

That estimate is likely to be low as officials with in the comptroller’s office believe the number of eligible taxpayers is incomplete. Taxpayers who work using ITINs tend to file very late in the tax season and data for 2019 is incomplete, according to the comptroller’s office.

House and Senate leaders hoped to have the bill to Hogan by the end of the week. That appears unlikely as the Senate will not bring the measure up for a final vote before Friday morning.

Thursday’s preliminary approval carried more than the 29 votes needed to make the bill veto-proof. A similar veto-proof margin is expected in the House.

It is not clear if the governor will sign the bill.

“The governor will carefully review the legislation should it reach his desk,” said Shareese Churchill, a Hogan spokeswoman.