Rep. Watson Coleman Reintroduces The Filer Voter Act and The Employee Profit-Sharing Encouragement Act of 2023

WASHINGTON, D.C., (April 17, 2023) – Today, Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12) announced the reintroduction of the Filer Voter Act (H.R. 2629) and the Employee Profit-Sharing Encouragement Act of 2023 (H.R. 2628).

The Filer Voter Act will make it easier to register to vote. This bill allows voters to register to vote when they file their taxes. Much like the “Motor Voter Law” of the 1990s that allowed voters to register to vote with their local motor vehicle department the “Filer Voter Act” will require tax preparers to provide individuals the option to receive voter registration materials. Whether you do your taxes in person, online, or through a Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program, the tax preparers will make sure you have the option of receiving a voter registration application form.

“Across the country, state legislatures are taking steps to disenfranchise voters through voter roll purges and other voter suppression tactics,” said Watson Coleman. “It’s more important than ever to ensure voters have many opportunities to register and take part in our democratic process. The Filer Voter Act follows the model of the Motor Voter Act, which in its first year helped 30 million voters complete or update their registration.”

The Employee Profit-Sharing Encouragement Act of 2023 (H.R. 2628), which would incentivize large companies to implement an employee profit-sharing plan. This bill would require that any company that makes more than $25 million in earnings must establish an employee profit sharing plan to provide at least 5 percent of companies’ annual net income as a cash benefit for both full time and part time employees who’ve been with the company for one year or more. Qualifying companies that fail to meet these requirements would be prohibited from deducting executive compensation expenses from their federal taxes.

“We have massive companies boosting salaries for their executives while ignoring the majority of their workers and contributing to the national crisis of wage stagnation that’s keeping people out of the middle class. A greater and greater percentage of profits are going to executives and and stockholders instead of hard-working employees. That’s a problem that we have the tools to solve and requiring profit sharing is one way we can do it,” said Watson Coleman. “Our tax code is riddled with giveaways for corporations, everything from letting companies borrow from offshore subsidiaries to deductions for ‘manufacturing’ claimed for making burgers or grinding coffee, and Republicans have used their tax bills to add even more loopholes. For all the breaks they get, these companies can and should be investing in their workers — and since they’re unwilling to do so on their own, it’s time for Congress to step in for the people.”

You can find the full texts of the bills here:

Filer Voter Act (H.R. 2629)

Employee Profit-Sharing Encouragement Act of 2023 (H.R. 2628)