ITEP's Research Priorities
Campus Progress: Is Your City Miserable? Ask Forbes
February 28, 2013
(Original Post) Posted Thursday, February 28, 2013 in Opinions by Chris Lewis Forbes Magazine’s annual list of “America’s Most Miserable Cities” is out, measuring the (lack of) wellbeing in America’s 200 largest metro areas. The Forbes list is a close cousin to quality-of-life research—a growing, interdisciplinary body of economic inquiry that recognizes human happiness is […]
States with “High Rate” Income Taxes are Still Outperforming No-Tax States
February 28, 2013 • By Carl Davis
Lawmakers in about a dozen states are giving serious consideration to either cutting or eliminating their state personal income taxes. In each case, these proposals are being touted as a way to boost economic growth.
Politifact: Dick Saslaw says all states, except Virginia, “keep raising their gas tax”
February 28, 2013
(Original Post) Sen. Minority Leader Richard Saslaw has spearheaded the opposition this winter to Gov. Bob McDonnell’s plan to raise transportation revenues by abolishing the state gas tax and replacing it with a sales tax increase. Saslaw, D-Fairfax, says the only way to raise ample money for roads is to increase both the sales and […]
Laffer’s New Job Growth Factoid is All Rhetoric and No Substance
February 27, 2013 • By Carl Davis
A new talking point printed on the opinion page of The Wall Street Journal is proving irresistible to state lawmakers looking for an excuse to reduce or eliminate their states' income taxes: A new analysis by economist Art Laffer for the American Legislative Exchange Council finds that, from 2002 to 2012, 62% of the three million net new jobs in America were created in the nine states without an income tax, though these states account for only about 20% of the national population.
Bloomberg BNA: Virginia Transportation Package Relies On Federal Sales Tax Legislation for Funding
February 27, 2013
(Original Post) Subscription Required ‘Cobbled Together Package.’ Carl Davis, a senior analyst at the nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said the state Legislature approved an unnecessarily “complicated” package for a relatively simple funding issue. “There are much more straightforward options then this cobbled together package of revenue raisers,” Davis said. “If Virginia just […]
Campus Progress: What ALEC’s Arthur Laffer Wants to Do To Your Tax Code
February 27, 2013
(Original Post) Posted Tuesday, February 26, 2013 by Chris Lewis Arthur Laffer might just be the Doctor Nick of taxes—all that’s missing is a degree from Upstairs Economics College. Earlier this month, we reported on the “Brownback Experiment,” a wild plan by Gov. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) to cut the state’s income tax. Brownback said he […]
Oklahoma Policy Institute: What’s unaffordable?
February 26, 2013
The Governor’s assertion that extending Medicaid is unaffordable to Oklahoma is unconvincing in at least two respects. First, the study on which she bases her cost estimates makes clear that extending Medicaid would have a very modest fiscal cost to the state and would bring in over twelve new federal dollars for every additional dollar […]
Honolulu Star Advertiser: Staring Down Poverty
February 26, 2013
(Original Post) The recession has hit many hard, throwing more Hawaii families and individuals on the edge of poverty, if not completely onto the streets.
NPR: What Idaho Lawmakers Know – And Don’t – When Making Tough Tax Policy Decisions
February 25, 2013
(Original Post) February 25, 2013 | 6:30 AMBy Molly Messick A left-leaning tax policy group recently put out a short little report about the state corporate income taxes paid by IDACorp. That’s the holding company of Idaho’s largest electric utility, Idaho Power. The report claims IDACorp paid no state income taxes nationwide from 2007 through […]
The Fiscal Times: State Income Taxes- One Piece of a Complex Revenue Pie
February 25, 2013
(Original Post) By BRUCE BARTLETT, The Fiscal TimesFebruary 22, 2013 State taxes are once again making headlines. When California recently raised its top income tax rate to 13.3 percent, pro golfer Phil Mickelson threatened to leave the state for the no-income tax world of sunny Florida. Republicans in several states are pushing to abolish their […]
Associated Press: Walker’s income tax cut helps rich more
February 22, 2013
MADISON, Wis. – Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed income tax cut would give more money back to the rich than it would the poor, despite his billing it as targeting the middle class. Related Content The Wisconsin State Journal reported that the tax cut would save a family of four earning less than $21,000 just $2 […]
The Daily Iowan: Raise the gas tax to increase revenue
February 22, 2013
(Original Post) BY DI EDITORIAL BOARD | FEBRUARY 22, 2013 5:00 AM The Iowa Legislature has considered a proposal that would increase by 10 cents Iowa’s motor-fuel tax, more commonly called the gas tax. This proposal is politically unpopular, given that gases prices are relatively high and the economy has not fully recovered. However, as […]
Wisconsin State Journal: Experts see no big gain for economy, taxpayers in Scott Walker’s budget proposal
February 22, 2013
(Original Post) DEE J. HALL | Wisconsin State Journal | [email protected] | 608-252-6132 Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed income tax cut is likely too small to help individual taxpayers or the Wisconsin economy but could be large enough to harm the state’s future fiscal soundness, according to experts reacting Thursday to the governor’s 2013-15 budget. However, […]
Charlotte Observer: Will reform unfairly target the vulnerable?
February 21, 2013
By Meg Wiehe Special to the Observer Posted: Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013 By all accounts, North Carolina’s tax system will come under heavy scrutiny this year. Gov. Pat McCrory and House and Senate leadership have signaled their intentions to overhaul the way the state collects revenues necessary to pay for public investments. But while there […]
Charlotte Observer: State Sen. Bob Rucho says North Carolina tax system needs an overhaul
February 21, 2013
By Jim Morrill [email protected] Posted: Saturday, Feb. 02, 2013 RALEIGH Republican state Sen. Bob Rucho is screening his PowerPoint to yet another audience, watching slide after slide build a case for changing North Carolina tax law. All the charts and numbers add up to one conclusion: A tax system built during the Great Depression doesn’t […]
WFAE: As N.C. Considers Tax Overhaul, How Does Current System Work?
February 21, 2013
(Original Post) By Michael Tomsic Governor Pat McCrory and state lawmakers are considering major changes to North Carolina’s tax structure. So we decided to take a closer look at a report released Wednesday detailing the effective tax rates currently in place. It’s from the liberal-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy in Washington, D.C. […]
The Star-Ledger: Sticking to the Republican playbook
February 21, 2013
(Original Post) By Star-Ledger Editorial Boardon February 15, 2013 at 6:30 AM, updated February 15, 2013 at 10:58 AM New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (left) with then-Ohio gubernatorial candidate John Kasich as they sit at a lunch counter during a live webcast Q&A session at a campaign stop for Kasich outside Cincinnati. Andrew Mills/The Star-Ledger […]
VT Digger: Hoffman- Who pays?
February 21, 2013
(Original Post) by Opinion | February 20, 2013 Editor’s note: This op-ed is by Jack Hoffman, a senior policy analyst at Public Assets Institute, a non-profit, non-partisan organization focusing on state fiscal issues and based in Montpelier. It was first published in the Burlington Free Press on Feb. 14. Vermont has long been known for […]
Reno News & Review: Enough with myths. Here are some facts.
February 21, 2013
(Original Post) By Sheila Leslie This article was published on 02.21.13. “There’s a woman in Chicago. She has 80 names, 30 addresses, 12 Social Security cards and is collecting veteran’s benefits on four non-existing deceased husbands. And she is collecting Social Security on her cards. She’s got Medicaid, getting food stamps and she is collecting […]
Moorcroft Leader: Tax Report for Wyoming Inspires proposed Gas Amendment
February 21, 2013
(Original Post) Tax season is getting underway, and a new report lays out the percentages taxes take out of family incomes in Wyoming. The “Who Pays?” study shows that taxes a percentage of income are the lower for the reich and highest for the poorest. With that report in hand, the executive director of the […]
The Commonwealth Institute: Senate’s Version of HB2313 Still Lacks Offsetting Relief Measures
February 21, 2013
While the Senate’s version of Governor McDonnell’s transportation bill looks very different from the bill passed by the House – and it is – the two versions have one major problem in common: they rely on regressive tax increases that will have low-income Virginians paying a greater share of their income towards funding transportation. As […]
Oklahoma Policy Institute: Governor Fallin’s tax cut would do little to nothing for the average Oklahoman
February 19, 2013
In her State of the State address, Governor Fallin unveiled yet another proposal to cut Oklahoma’s income tax. Her plan is drastically scaled back from last year’s proposal, which attempted to stretch out Oklahoma’s tax brackets, cut the top rate in half, and eliminate dozen of tax credits, exemptions, and deductions. This year, the Governor […]
Toledo Blade: Regressive taxes
February 19, 2013
(Original Post) When he delivers his State of the State message in Lima tonight, Gov. John Kasich is likely to argue that Ohio’s tax code is not keeping up with changes in the state’s economy. But the governor’s new budget proposal would make the Ohio tax structure more regressive, while doing too little to close […]
Times Argus: Jack Hoffman- Who pays?
February 19, 2013
February 18,2013 Vermont has long been known for its progressive income tax system. For a couple of reasons, it makes sense to tax higher incomes at higher rates. Those who benefit most from society have a responsibility to contribute more, and those with more discretionary income — what’s left after covering taxes and necessities — […]
MSNBC: The ‘47%’ pay more of their income in taxes
February 15, 2013
(Original Post) Ned Resnikoff, @resnikoff3:51 PM on 02/15/2013 “There are 47% who are … dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe that government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it.” So said Mitt Romney […]
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