Election workers help voters cast their votes during the primary voting process at Brands Avenue Elementary School in Mecklenburg County Precinct 12 on March 3, 2026 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Grant Baldwin | Getty Images
House Democrats are introducing a proposal Wednesday that would give tax breaks to election investigators.
Under a bill sponsored by Reps. Joe Morrell and George Latimer, both Democrats from New York, the benefits poll workers receive for campaigning would no longer count as gross income for federal income taxes. This reading was first obtained by CNBC.
“Tax relief for poll workers recognizes the critical role they play in protecting America’s elections,” Morrell said in a statement. “The Pollster Tax Relief Act eases fiscal burdens while encouraging participation, strengthening election integrity, and ensuring that the hard work, dedication, and patriotism of public servants is properly recognized.”
In his capacity as the top Democrat on the House committee that oversees federal elections, Morrell is leading efforts to counter President Donald Trump’s election priorities, including curbing mail-in voting and requiring voters to prove their ID and citizenship at the ballot box to register for federal elections.
He has also spoken out about the need to protect election officials following the 2020 election, which Trump falsely claimed to have won. The Bipartisan Policy Center found in 2025 that election worker turnover has steadily increased since 2000, and the pace has accelerated since 2020.
Co-sponsors include Democratic Rep. Terry Sewell of Alabama, Rep. Norma Torres of California, Rep. Julie Johnson of Texas, Rep. Nikema Williams of Georgia, and Rep. Kevin Mullin of California.
The bill also comes amid a flurry of bipartisan Tax Day rhetoric. Republicans have been touting aspects of the 2025 tax and spending bill all week, particularly proposals such as exempting tips and overtime.
The House Republican Conference highlighted the policies of the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” and harshly criticized their Democratic colleagues during a tax day press conference Wednesday morning.
“All the Democrats voted to raise taxes,” Rep. Lisa McClain (R-Mich.), who also chairs the House Republican Conference, said at the event. “Why? Democrats think they’re better stewards of money.”
Although the 2025 package extended many tax cuts from President Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, a majority of Americans say they pay too much in taxes, according to a Gallup poll released last week.
About 60% of Americans surveyed in 2023 and beyond say they pay too much in taxes, including 59% of those surveyed this year, according to Gallup. And shortly after the 2025 tax and spending package was passed, a Pew Research Center poll found that only 32% of Americans supported the measure.
Democrats, on the other hand, see Republican tax policies as a gift to the wealthy.
“Republicans’ ‘ugly bill’ stripped health care coverage from millions of Americans, provided massive tax cuts to billionaire donors, and exploded debt. Shameful,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries posted on X on Tuesday.
