¶ Overview
Collins was a “proud and true supporter” of a so-called ‘Fair Tax’ and wanted to repeal the 16th Amendment. His regressive tax proposal would cut taxes for the wealthy and raise taxes on low- and middle-income retirees. Collins wanted to repeal the Community Reinvestment Act and bring back redlining and exclusionary banking.
Collins pushed for a seemingly endless list of self-interested legislation to enrich himself and benefit his trucking business. He secured a nearly $1 million PPP loan just weeks before he contributed $531,000 to his own campaign.
¶ Mike Collins Called For A Fair Tax And Wanted To Bring Back Redlining
Mike Collins Called To “Move As Close As Possible To A Flat Tax Or To The Fair Tax.” According to the Mike Collins plan, “The tax code is too convoluted, the IRS out of control, and Americans who pay their fair share are penalized. Taxes are burdening our businesses and families, thus slowing our economy. We must simplify the tax code and move as close as possible to a flat tax or to the Fair Tax. A simpler tax code will allow our economy to be robust and vibrant once again. I have signed the Americans for Tax Reform pledge and committed I will never vote for a tax increase.” [Mike Collins Plan – Overhaul DC, 2014]
Mike Collins Said He Was A “Proud And True Supporter” Of The Fair Tax. Mike Collins tweeted, “I am a proud and TRUE supporter of the #fairtax let's get the Feds out of our paychecks! #fairtax #GOP #freedom #taxreform #Mike2014” [Twitter, @MikeCollinsGA, 11/8/13]
Mike Collins Called For Repealing The 16th Amendment And To “Do Away With The Income Tax All Together.” Mike Collins tweeted, “Let's repeal the #16thamendment and do away with the #incometax all together! Americans deserve to keep what they earn #Fairtax #noincometax” [Twitter, @MikeCollinsGA, 11/19/13]
Mike Collins Co-Sponsored FairTax Legislation To Abolish The Federal Income Tax And Institute A Flat Sales Tax. According to the Savannah Morning News, “The gist of the proposal, Carter is quick to point out, is simple. Eliminate the federal income tax, the payroll tax, the estate and gift taxes, and for good measure, the Internal Revenue Service. Instead, the federal government would collect revenue through a flat sales tax that would total 23 cents out of every dollar a consumer spends. The bill, H.B. 25, is co-sponsored by 27 representatives, all Republicans, including five of the nine Republican congressional representatives from Georgia. Two of them — Andrew Clyde and Mike Collins — joined Carter to speak in favor of the proposal on the House floor. ‘While great reforms were made by President Trump in his 2017 tax cuts and jobs act, I believe the next step is to completely overhaul our overly complex tax code with the Fair Tax,’ Clyde said from the floor. In an op-ed for Fox News, Carter argued the fair tax would be revenue neutral (although that is contested) and simplify life for everyone,. It allows people, he argues, to choose how much tax they pay by how much they spend, while also capturing spending from visitors and others who would never report an income but do spend money. The longstanding proposal got more attention than it might otherwise have received when House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-California) promised to give the bill at least a committee vote, despite opposing the legislation himself. The bill, while having only some Republican support, has received opposition from Democratic leadership in the Senate and even President Joe Biden, who is also a Democrat. For supporters, though, the opposition is no deterrent to trying to push it. ‘You know the only way that big legislation is passed in this town is when the American people demand it,’ Collins said.” [Savannah Morning News, 4/21/23]
¶ Collins’ Legislation Would “Cut Taxes For The Wealthy” While “Increasing Taxes” For Low- And Middle-Income Retirees And Families
Center For American Progress: “Fair Tax Act Would Cut Taxes For The Wealthy While Increasing Taxes Paid By Low- And Middle-Income Retirees Who Live Off Of Social Security And Savings, As Well As Families Who Would Be Forced To Pay More Taxes On Everyday Goods And Services.” According to the Center for American Progress, “By shifting the foundation of the federal tax system from income to consumption, the Fair Tax Act would cut taxes for the wealthy while increasing taxes paid by low- and middle-income retirees who live off of Social Security and savings, as well as families who would be forced to pay more taxes on everyday goods and services. Meanwhile, high-income families who spend less of their income on consumption and who have sufficient earnings to save a substantial fraction of their income would pay a smaller share of their income in tax.” [Center For American Progress, 2/8/23]
Flat Sales Tax Was Regressive And Would Hit Low-Income People Harder. According to the Savannah Morning News, “Carter made a point to highlight potential criticism of the bill in his speech on the House floor. A major one is that the tax is regressive, hitting lower-income people harder. Wealthy people are more likely to spend money on assets, like investments, which would not be taxed, while lower-income people spend most of their income on consumption, said Richard McGrath, professor of economics at Georgia Southern University. ‘Which means that as a higher-income individual, I am paying taxes on much less of my income than a lower income household that is essentially living paycheck to paycheck,’ McGrath said. ‘And the term 'living paycheck to paycheck' means you're spending all of your income on consumption, which means you're paying taxes on all of your income.’” [Savannah Morning News, 4/21/23]
¶ Collins Called To Repeal The Community Reinvestment Act And Bring Back Redlining
Collins Called To Repeal The Community Reinvestment Act. According to the Mike Collins plan, “We must reduce government regulations in order to allow businesses to grow. In the first three years of the Obama administration, 106 new major regulations were enacted, costing Americans $46 Billion annually to comply. We should repeal Sarbanes-Oxley and Dodd-Frank, two burdensome financial regulations which allow bureaucrats to stifle small banks. We should repeal the Community Reinvestment Act and break up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into small private banks, diverting any future mortgage crisis. We must also scale down both the Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration to reduce their adverse impact on the industries they are regulating.” [Mike Collins Plan – Overhaul DC, 2014]
¶ CRA Was Created To Respond To America’s History Of Redlining, And Focused On Ensuring That Banks Respond To The Credit Needs Of The Communities In Which They Do Business
Community Reinvestment Act Was Created To Respond To America’s History Of Redlining, And Focused On Ensuring That Banks Respond To The Credit Needs Of The Communities In Which They Do Business. According to the Urban Institute, “The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), first passed by Congress in 1977, was created to respond to America’s history of redlining, in which lenders refused to lend to Black and Latino households and other households of color. Although the CRA does not explicitly consider race or ethnicity at the national level, it does focus on ensuring that banks respond to the credit needs of the communities in which they do business.” [Urban Institute, 7/18/23]
¶ Mike Collins Pushed For Legislation That Would Help His Trucking Business
¶ Collins Pushed For Self-Interested Tax Breaks And Deregulation On The Commercial Trucking Industry
Mike Collins Voted To Disapprove The EPA’s Emission Rule On Heavy Duty Trucks. According to a Congressman Mike Collins press release, “ Today, the House of Representatives passed S.J. Res. 11, a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to disapprove the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) onerous emissions rule on heavy-duty trucks. Representative Mike Collins (R-Ga.), who built and ran a family-owned trucking company for more than 30 years, voted in favor of the resolution and issued this statement after passage: ‘Once again, Washington bureaucrats who haven’t spent a single day in the cab of a truck are hammering the industry with standards far beyond what current technology can handle. Emissions from heavy-duty trucks have already been reduced substantially in recent decades, but as usual, the EPA’s allegiance is to the climate lobby, not to working Americans who will endure higher prices for everything that moves over the road. This rule is unnecessary, burdensome, and exactly the wrong policy that we’ve come to expect from Biden’s EPA.’” [Press Release – Congressman Mike Collins, 5/23/23]
Mike Collins Bashed Legislation Increasing Motor Carriers’ Minimum Liability Insurance. According to Landline, “A bill that would increase motor carriers’ minimum liability insurance to $5 million would ‘destroy the trucking industry,’ a member of Congress said. Last December, Rep. Jesus ‘Chuy’ Garcia, D-Ill., introduced the Fair Compensation for Truck Crash Victims Act. The bill would inflate existing minimum insurance levels from $750,000 all the way to $5 million – a 566% increase. Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., who owns a family trucking business, told Land Line Now that HR6884 would be devastating to small-business trucking companies and the nation’s consumers. Collins said it must be kept in mind that 98% of trucking companies have 10 trucks or fewer. ‘They’re not even valued at $5 million,’ he said. ‘There’s no way that 98% of trucking companies can afford a $5 million policy … If you were to implement that law and create a $5 million minimum liability insurance, you are going to destroy the trucking industry.’” [Landline, 5/2/24]
Mike Collins Co-Sponsored The Modern, Clean, And Safe Trucks Act Of 2023, Which Would Repeal The 12% Excise Tax On The Retail Sale Of Heavy Trucks And Trailers. [Congress.gov, HR. 1440, 6/13/24]
Mike Collins Railed Against Automatic Braking Systems On Heavy Duty Trucks And Claimed They Were “Not Fail-Proof” And Were “Actually Hurting More Than They’re Helping Right Now.” According to Land Line, “Automatic emergency braking systems on heavy-duty trucks are not ready for a mandate, a member of Congress said at a recent House subcommittee hearing. [...] Rep. Mike Collins, who owns a trucking company, said he tried the technology before determining it was unsafe. ‘From someone who runs a little over 100 trucks, I’ve tried those automatic braking systems, and we pulled them,’ said Collins, R-Ga. ‘They’re not fail-proof. If you’re ever in a truck going 65 mph down the interstate loaded with 80,000 gross and your truck just all of a sudden slams on the brakes and there’s no reason other than the bridge ahead or the construction flashing sign, then you’ll understand that these things aren’t fail-proof and we don’t need them mandated until they are. Because the car behind you, they don’t know why you slammed on the brakes either … People don’t understand that these things are actually hurting more than they’re helping right now.’” [Land Line, 2/18/25]
Mike Collins Introduced Legislation Making It A Federal Crime To Engineer A Crash With A Commercial Motor Vehicle. According to an American Trucking Association press release, “Today, the American Trucking Associations applauded Congressmen Mike Collins (R-Georgia) and Brandon Gill (R-Texas) for introducing the Staged Accident Fraud Prevention Act. The bill would make it a federal crime to engineer a crash with a commercial motor vehicle. This hazardous and increasingly pervasive phenomenon is being used by criminals to manipulate the legal system and extort seven-figure settlements from trucking companies. ‘When con artists seeking a big payday intentionally collide with commercial motor vehicles, their reckless disregard for safety puts innocent truck drivers and the motoring public at risk. These unscrupulous individuals perpetuate their selfish actions by filing frivolous lawsuits against honest trucking companies, raising costs for consumer goods and contributing to soaring insurance premiums,’ said American Trucking Associations Senior Vice President of Legislative Affairs Henry Hanscom. ’ATA commends Congressmen Mike Collins and Brandon Gill for introducing the Staged Accident Fraud Prevention Act, which would close legal loopholes that criminals are exploiting to attack America’s hardworking truckers. By establishing clear, enforceable criminal penalties that apply to all of the conspirators involved in staged collisions, we can finally put an end to this dangerous and costly practice.’” [Press Release – American Trucking Association, 4/8/25]
¶ Mike Collins Potentially Used His Nearly $1 Million PPP Loan To Fund His Congressional Campaign
¶ Collins Trucking Received A $920,000 PPP Loan, Then Mike Collins Contributed $531,000 To His Congressional Campaign
Collins Trucking Received A $920,000 PPP Loan, Then Mike Collins Contributed $531,000 To His Congressional Campaign. According to the New Republic, “A freshman Republican in Congress, Collins has studiously avoided any mention of the influence of corporations in politics when he talks about the rail industry. Perhaps because of his own history. About 72 percent of his 2022 campaign fundraising came from large individual contributions and 12 percent from PAC contributions. He also pulled $531,000 from his own wallet, after he had received a now-forgiven PPP loan of $920,000.” [New Republic, 3/8/23]