AP: State Governments May Be Expanding the Wealth Gap

By David Leib, June 5, 2014

Lawmakers in many states have been trying to boost their post-recession economies by cutting income taxes, curbing aid to the long-term jobless or holding down the minimum wage. Some have pursued all of these steps.

Whether such policies will spur businesses to expand as hoped isn’t yet clear. But collectively, the actions could ease the financial burden for the states’ most affluent residents while reducing the safety net for those at the bottom.

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“What’s happening at the state level is increasingly important, and, to many eyes, it appears to be moving things in one direction — towards greater inequality,” said Matthew Gardner, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a Washington-based tax research group.

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