Link: https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-tax-cut-ban-and-the-constitution-11616107345?mod=opinion_lead_pos1
Excerpt:
The $1.9 trillion bill marketed as Covid relief includes $350 billion in federal aid to states and localities. While states can use the money to increase spending, Congress decreed that they can’t use it to cut taxes. “A state or territory shall not use the funds,” the bill says, “to either directly or indirectly offset a reduction in the net tax revenue” from a new law or regulation.
Because the mandate applies to “indirect” revenue offsets, states are at risk of violating the law for any tax reduction “during the covered period,” which stretches through 2024. Ohio’s lawsuit by Attorney General Dave Yost argues that “this coercive offer of federal funds violates the Constitution.”
Author(s): Editorial board
Publication Date: 18 March 2021
Publication Site: Wall Street Journal