Lindblom describes the concepts of incrementalism for policy making. Briefly describe a policy issue or area (for example, the Clean Air Act or health care policy or something more specific) that you believe can be described largely by incrementalism. In other words, the policy issue you describe should have progressed over time in an incremental fashion that is similar to the process Lindblom describes.
In the United States, tax policy can be described largely by incrementalism. An example is the policy change concerning the alternative minimum tax. This tax was introduced in 1969 to ensure that wealthy Americans did not evade paying income taxes completely by using an excessive amount of tax loopholes. The threshold for the tax was not adjusted for inflation, thus it began to capture more taxpayers who were increasingly less wealthy. Over the last twenty years it has reached income thresholds for middle-income families and individuals. Since it is difficult to enact new taxes, the AMT has remained as a method to raise revenues, and Congress continually approves AMT exemptions to prevent the tax from harming particular income groups, yet using it as a tool to tax other income groups, including corporations.
The alternatives used to solve the problem are increasingly familiar. They involve changing the threshold at which one would be subjected to the tax. Since 1985, Congress has changed the AMT exemption amount seven times. Efforts to repeal the AMT have failed because lawmakers debate the potential budgetary impact absent the tax. When repeal was passed by Congress in the 1990’s, President Clinton vetoed the bill because he worried about the impact on the federal budget. Since the veto “patches” have been adopted to prevent the tax from impacting the middle class.
Lowi outlines three major types of public policies in this chapter. Find an interesting newspaper article that outlines a policy that seems to fall into one of these categories. It’s ok if the policy has some components of all types, but it must represent one of the three policy types for the most part.
Arizona’s temporary 1-cent sales tax would qualify as a redistributive policy according to Lowi. Facing steep budget cuts to education, health care, and social services, the state sought a way to bolster revenues to fund these priorities. Lawmakers and Governor Brewer argued throughout 2009 on whether a tax was the proper policy to pursue and a deadlock prevailed until this February when lawmakers sent Prop. 100 to the ballot.
The proposition raised the statewide sales tax from 5.6% to 6.6%, the tax expires in 2013. The tax will primarily fund K-12 education and soften the pain of current budget cuts. According to Lowi, this type of policy should engender a struggle between the haves and the have nots. This was somewhat evident during the Prop 100 debate. Opponents of the tax were both conservative and liberal. Conservatives believed the tax would reduce sales of goods and depress an already weak economy. The liberal viewpoint was that the sales tax is regressive and impacts the poor more than the wealthy. More equitable taxes such as property or income were not considered for Prop 100. This redistributive policy will impact the poor more heavily and invest those resources in education throughout the state. This income group will see the benefit in their local schools, but so will wealthier families who are less impacted by the sales tax.
The article below describes the attitudes on the tax from residents in the poor border community of Douglas, AZ.
AZ Republic - In Douglas, residents don't like tax but see a need
BYLINE: By, Dennis Wagner, The Arizona Republic – 4.27.10
BODY:
Lupita Majalca has been selling refrigerators and cake supplies in a cluttered shop just a few blocks from the Mexican border for 13 years.
She understands business, and she can do the math. Should Arizona voters approve a sales-tax increase in May, she'll lose another penny on every dollar if she wants to keep her customers' prices the same. Sales tax is already 8.9 cents, and her customers are mostly poor folks from south of the border.
"I'll have to increase my prices," Majalca says. "That's hard."
On the other hand, Majalca concedes, her American nieces and nephews go to public schools. And her town is so depressed that many folks need government assistance. Without more tax revenue, she says, schoolteachers could get laid off and social programs might be cut.
"That is so bad," she says, shaking her head. "I don't know what they're supposed to do, the government."
Others in this town in Arizona's southeastern corner seem equally conflicted. Residents, mostly Hispanic and overwhelmingly Democrat, are blue-collar Americans in a border culture and economy.
The town, founded at the turn of the century by copper miners and ranchers, may seem outdated to urban visitors. Today, the miners and cowboys have largely been replaced by Border Patrol agents and prison guards.
In fact, Majalca says, beefed-up border security has combined with the recession to create a double-whammy for businesses in Douglas. Checkpoints are so tight that Mexicans in Agua Prieta, the sister city to the south, are no longer willing to spend hours in line or deal with the security hassles.
"We survive," Majalca says. "But we've lost a lot of customers."
Down the street, 83-year-old retiree Murel Smith talks about taxes after finishing breakfast with his granddaughter at Douglas' historic Gadsden Hotel.
Smith says he's not keen on paying more in sales tax at places like Safeway or Walmart. But, after putting in 37 years as a federal employee with the Border Patrol and Immigration and Naturalization Service, he understands that Americans have to fund government programs and services.
"They've always paid my salary," he points out, laughing. "And they still do, I guess."
Smith says he'll vote yes in May when Arizona's 1-cent-per-dollar sales-tax increase appears on state ballots, but he'll do so grudgingly. "Sales tax would be the last thing I'd want to push. But the state's got to stay as close to being solvent as possible. ... If it is going to the schools, I'd want to see it."
Around the corner at Jim's Barber Shop, Samuel Paul says he has been shearing hair for a half-century and understands cutbacks. But he also realizes the importance of government programs and intends to vote in favor of the temporary sales-tax increase.
"Every state office I go into," he says, "they've got signs up: 'Due to cutbacks, your service may be slower than usual.' Everybody's got to pitch in."
Paul says a sales tax is the most fair way to collect revenue because it doesn't discriminate: Everyone has to buy things.
Still, he's less than satisfied with Arizona's elected leaders and their spending priorities.
"We seem to be awful slow moving," he complains while doing a buzz cut on an elderly customer. "If we could get more 'we' and less 'me,' it would be a lot better. The problem is that a lot of politicians were never really working people, and they make decisions that affect all of us."
Paul says that increased taxes would be burdensome during a recession but that Douglas is better positioned to handle it because prisons and the Border Patrol aren't cutting jobs. Still, he adds, "it's kind of surprising when you look at your (sales) receipt and see how much tax you're paying."
At Lupita's Refrigeration & Cake Supplies, Majalca struggles to decide how she'll vote in May. "Wow, it's hard," she says. "I don't know."
After considering all the arguments, she decides: "It's OK. Just one cent."
Then, she pauses, thinking about the governor and legislators who requested the tax hike and who will spend it.
Asked if she has confidence in them, Majalca shakes her head. "I feel nothing. Faith? No. In this time? No."
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Douglas
* Description: Mostly Hispanic blue-collar town on Arizona's southeastern border. The miners and ranchers who founded it have largely been replaced by Border Patrol agents and prison guards.
* Population: 18,207.
* Unemployment rate: 8.2 percent.
* Sales-tax rate: 8.9 percent.
* Median household income: $28,539.
* Registered voters: 6,509; 58 percent Democrat, 12 percent Republican, 7 percent independent and 23 percent not designated or other.
