Arizona

Here at ITEP we want to give thanks and say we’re grateful for all of the hard work that advocates in states across the country are doing to secure progressive tax policy victories...

President Reagan is lionized by many for cutting taxes and government. But the story is more complicated. Reagan knee-capped regulation and much domestic spending, and early in his administration he slashed taxes in ways that drastically reduced revenue. Yet he vastly expanded military spending, so his cuts were only to things he disliked.   Less known […]

10 state personal income tax reforms that offer the most promising routes toward narrowing racial income and wealth gaps through the tax code.

One of the few industries to excel during the economic downturn brought on by the pandemic has been the marijuana business, and lawmakers around the country are taking notice as they try to ensure that sales in their state are both legal and subject to tax...

When crafting tax policy, lawmakers and bill authors often work backward, using a patchwork of changes to help achieve their stated goal. One important consideration that is routinely left out is what impact the change will have on racial equity. Such is the case with the qualified business income deduction, which is helping to further enrich wealthy business owners, the overwhelming majority of whom are white. At present, white Americans own 88 percent of private business wealth despite making up only 60 percent of the population. Meanwhile, Black and Hispanic families confronting much higher barriers to entrepreneurship each own less…

Summer is quickly (and sadly) coming to an end and if you’ve been away enjoying the great outdoors or off the grid, we’re here to help keep you up to date on what’s been happening on the tax front around the country...

States were busy over the past week despite the Fourth of July holiday. Many are gearing up for upcoming tax and budget clashes that could shape their futures for some time...

Many states find themselves in a peculiar fiscal situation right now: federal pandemic relief money has been dispersed to states and revenue projections have exceeded expectations set during the pandemic. Meanwhile, more and more workers are returning to jobs as vaccines roll out and typical economic activity resumes. Some states, however, have decided to squander their unexpected fiscal strength on tax cuts.

Today is the last day of the fiscal year in many states, and some lawmakers might want to take the opportunity to make some new fiscal year resolutions. Legislators in Arizona, New Hampshire, Ohio, North Carolina, and Wisconsin, for example, should really cut back on the trickle-down tax-cut Kool-Aid, which may make parties with rich donors more fun but tends to be both harmful and habit-forming...

Delayed legislative sessions and protracted federal aid debates have made for a busier June than normal for state fiscal debates. Arizona, New Hampshire, and North Carolina legislators, for example, are still pushing for expensive and regressive tax cuts in their states while they remain in session...

Taxing rich households and large corporations to fund vital investments in education and other shared priorities has long been a winner in the eyes of the American public, and more recently has also enjoyed a string of victories in state legislatures and at the ballot box. That win streak continued this week as Arizona’s voter-approved tax surcharge on the rich and Seattle, Washington’s payroll tax on high-profit, high-salary businesses both survived court challenges, and Massachusetts leaders approved a millionaires tax to go before voters next year.

Just as an early summer heatwave brought soaring temperatures this past weekend through much of the lower 48 states, several state legislative sessions are heating up as legislators scramble to make tough budget decisions. Massachusetts lawmakers are voting on a fiery new "millionaires' tax" that would support transportation and education revenue needs, and Connecticut will likely restore its state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) back to 30 percent. Illinois’s decision to cut back corporate tax breaks also provided a breath of fresh air. Unfortunately, we'd give other state tax proposals a more lukewarm reception: New Hampshire, North Carolina, and Ohio…

As more and more state legislatures wrap up their sessions and we reflect on the whirlwind that is this past year, it’s easy to focus on the steps back that states like Oklahoma have taken and Nebraska, North Carolina, and Arizona are trying to take. We have had some significant wins in states over the course of the year, but not every development will be a good one. However, we know advocates are on the ground, working tirelessly to help states maintain equity and progressivity in their tax codes. And for that, we have many of you—our intrepid readers of…

Arizona’s elected leaders have created a tax code that is upside down and regressive– meaning that those with low incomes pay a much higher share of their income in taxes compared to Arizona’s highest income earners. Our state’s tax code is both a product of and perpetrator of stark racial inequities. The cumulation of Arizona’s […]

“Tax Day” was earlier this week but the debates, research, and advocacy that determine our taxes and how they are used take place every day of the year...

We had our noses buried in new American Rescue Plan guidance...when we heard the refreshing news that Missouri leaders are on the verge of modernizing their tax code, not only by becoming the final state to apply sales taxes to online purchases, but also by enacting an Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)...Meanwhile, tax debates are also highly active in California, Colorado, Louisiana, Maine, and Nebraska. We also share some of our own reporting on recent efforts in Arizona and several other states to undermine voter-approved reforms and democratic institutions themselves.

The onslaught of news about multiple states introducing or passing legislation to make it harder to vote is a clear signal that our democracy is in crisis. Decades of policymaking and judicial rulings have created a system in which the voices of the wealthy and powerful have more weight, and some lawmakers are determined to further rig the system and keep it that way.

In 2018, Arizona teachers took part in a national wave of teacher walkouts, protesting inadequate education funding and some of the lowest teacher pay in the nation—direct results of the state’s penchant for deep tax cuts and its decision to levy some of the lowest tax rates in the country on high-income families.

North Carolina lawmakers may have approved a massive tax subsidy giveaway to Apple, but we won’t let that news spoil our barrel this week. Nor will we be discouraged by Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont’s threats to upset the apple cart full of positive progressive tax reforms state lawmakers recently came together to approve...Why all the optimism? Because the apple of our eye this week is Washington State, where advocates and lawmakers succeeded in a decade-long fight...

The Arizona legislature is poised to permanently cut over a billion dollars in state revenues, the largest tax cut in the last three decades. This cut will make Arizona’s tax system more regressive than it is today with 91 percent of the tax cuts going to people in the top 20 percent of incomes. Read […]

“Bold progressive victories” is probably not the first phrase that comes to mind when thinking about state laws enacted so far in 2021...But progressive advocates, lawmakers, and voters have won some tremendous victories in states recently...We should celebrate them for the achievements they are—and closely study them for lessons they can teach about how to bring about positive progressive change in these and other states.