On April 9, 2023, Representative Kevin Kiley published an opinion in The Tahoe Daily Tribune entitled “Making California more Affordable.” Unfortunately, this article had some very misleading statements.

Representative Kiley states that California has the highest income taxes in the country. California has a sliding income tax schedule, so yes, the wealthiest pay among the highest taxes in the country, but a person making $75,000/year, California ranks 13th in the country.

He goes on to state that Californians are leaving the state in record numbers, over 900,000 in the last three years. This number might be true but as far as the percentage of Californians that leave the state this number is less than .3% of its population. There are nine states with a greater population loss by percentage than California.

Kiley states that he voted to repeal the appointment of 87,000 IRS agents that would target middle class working people and small businesses. This just is not true. These agents were appointed to go after high earning individuals and businesses that have been using loopholes to lower their taxes or avoiding taxes completely. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the GOP IRS defunding bill would increase the deficit by about $114 billion over 10 years. 

Most recently, Kiley joined colleagues to pass the Lower Energy Costs Act (H.R. 1). He states that “this bipartisan, landmark legislation will lower gas and grocery prices, reduce utility bills, and make everyday goods more affordable. It is the most significant legislation in recent history for making our country more energy independent.” H.R. 1 would do just the opposite, replacing pro-consumer policies with a thinly veiled license to pollute. It would raise costs for American families by repealing household energy rebates and rolling back investments to increase access to cost-lowering clean energy technologies. Instead of protecting American consumers, it would pad oil and gas company profits and undercut our public health and environment.

Susan Chandler is chair of the South Lake Tahoe Democratic Committee