Members of the UC Berkeley chapter of CalPIRG gathered under a tent on the steps of Sproul Plaza Wednesday morning for a brief press conference to raise awareness about closing corporate tax loopholes in order to save money in other areas, like public education.

CalPIRG members spoke to the issue in conjunction with Gordon Rausser, an economist in the College of Natural Resources, and Katherine Kwong, a representative for Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland. Congressman Pete Stark, D-Fremont, also sent in a statement to be read at the event.

“Tax havens cost Americans $100 billion in lost revenue annually and (cheat) Americans of funding that supports important public programs — from education to health care to public safety,” the statement read.

Students from the group created 1,000 paper graduation caps that were on display under the tent, which members said represented 1,000 complete educations that could be paid for with money lost from tax loopholes.

Lilly Adams, chair of the campus chapter of CalPIRG, said she is an out-of-state student and that she will graduate with close to $100,000 in debt.

According to CalPIRG intern Emily Robinson, another reason for the event was to put pressure on Congress to pass a bill called the Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act that would close these loopholes.

“We can’t allow the wealthiest corporations in America to not pay their taxes,” Robinson said.

Courtney Moulds covers student government.

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