Blog - State Policy
The new year often brings with it new goals and a desire to take on complex problems with a fresh perspective. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always apply to state lawmakers when considering tax policy...
State Rundown 12/15: State Priorities for 2023 Begin to Take Shape
December 15, 2022 • By ITEP Staff
State leaders have begun to release budget projections for 2023 and a familiar theme has emerged once again: big revenue surpluses, which have many state lawmakers pushing for another round of tax cuts despite the monumental challenges that we as a country face that call for sustainable revenues...
State Rundown 11/30: ‘Lame Duck’ December Could Have Major Tax Implications
November 30, 2022 • By ITEP Staff
As federal lawmakers begin their lame duck deliberations, the revival of the expanded child tax credit remains a strong possibility...
State policymakers have the tools they need to drastically reduce child poverty within their borders. A new ITEP report, coauthored with Columbia University’s Center on Poverty and Social Policy, explores state Child Tax Credit (CTC) options that would reduce child poverty by up to 50 percent. Temporary expansion of the federal CTC in 2021 reduced […]
As states continue to tally the remaining votes and the news stories roll out at a breakneck pace, the unofficial results of the 2022 midterm elections have brought with it significant changes across the state tax policy landscape...
Election Day in the States: Voters Deliver Important Victories for Tax Justice
November 10, 2022 • By Jon Whiten
Voters in Massachusetts and Colorado raised taxes on their wealthiest residents to fund schools, public transportation and school lunches for kids while making their tax codes more equitable. And voters in West Virginia defeated a proposal to deeply cut taxes, mostly for businesses, and drain the coffers of county and local governments.
Massachusetts Voters Score Win for Tax Fairness with ‘Fair Share Amendment’
November 9, 2022 • By Marco Guzman
In a significant victory for tax fairness, Massachusetts voters approved Question 1—commonly known as the Fair Share Amendment—Tuesday night with 52 percent of the vote. The new constitutional amendment creates a 4 percent surcharge on income over $1 million, and the revenue will specifically fund education and transportation projects in the Bay State.
Next Tuesday, voters will head to the polls to not only elect local and national leaders, but also let their voices be heard on a range of tax policy issues that could improve or worsen their state tax codes...
Tax Foundation’s ‘State Business Tax Climate Index’ Bears Little Connection to Business Reality
October 31, 2022 • By Carl Davis, Matthew Gardner
The big problem with the Index is that it peddles a solution that not only falls short of the goal of generating business investment, but one that actively harms state lawmakers’ ability to provide the kinds of public goods – like good schools and modern, efficient transportation networks – that businesses need and want.
Measures on the November Ballot Could Improve or Worsen State Tax Codes
October 26, 2022 • By Jon Whiten
In a couple of weeks, voters in a handful of states will weigh in on several tax-related ballot measures that could make state tax codes more equitable and raise money for public services, or take states in the opposite direction, making tax systems less fair and draining state coffers of dollars needed to maintain critical […]
Although the weather is beginning to cool down in parts of the country, the same cannot be said for many state economies, which are still running hot. That, however, doesn’t mean that the good times are guaranteed to last...
Do you remember/the big tax news innn September? Well, if not, we at ITEP got you covered...
State Rundown 9/7: Labor Day Week Provides Sobering Reminder of Steps Forward, Back
September 7, 2022 • By ITEP Staff
Though Labor Day has passed, advocates on the ground in states across the country are continuing to uphold the spirit of the labor movement...
Everyone loves a deal, so it’s no surprise why the appeal of the state sales tax holiday continues to persist. This year, 20 states will forgo more than $1 billion in combined revenue to enact a variety of sales tax holidays that—like most things that are too good to be true—will do little to provide meaningful benefits and instead undermine funding for public services.
State Rundown 8/10: States Still Talking Taxes as IRA Dominates Headlines
August 10, 2022 • By ITEP Staff
While federal tax policy has dominated the headlines with the Senate’s recent approval of the Inflation Reduction Act, lawmakers in statehouses across the country...
State Rundown 7/27: It’s (Sales Tax) Holiday Season, But Who’s Really Celebrating?
July 27, 2022 • By ITEP Staff
It’s the holiday season – well, the sales tax holiday season, that is. But after taking a closer look, you may notice that there is little to celebrate...
Legislative Momentum in 2022: New and Expanded Child Tax Credits and EITCs
July 22, 2022 • By Neva Butkus
State legislatures across the country made investments in their future, centering children, families, and workers by enacting and expanding state Earned Income Tax Credits (EITCs), Child Tax Credits (CTCs), and other refundable credits this session. In total, seven states either expanded or created CTCs this session. Connecticut, New Mexico, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Vermont […]
Most States Used Surpluses to Reduce Taxes But Not in Sustainable or Progressive Ways
July 22, 2022 • By Kamolika Das
The average person on the street would have no idea that many states experienced unprecedented budget surpluses this year. Iowa, for instance, has the most structurally deficient bridges of any state with nearly 1 in 5 falling apart. The Iowa Board of Regents proposed a 4.25 percent tuition increase for all three state universities and […]
New ITEP Brief Shows How State Sales Tax Holidays Fail to Live Up to the Hype
July 20, 2022 • By Marco Guzman
Twenty states this year have decided to go so far as to forgo a combined $1 billion in vital tax revenue in favor of conveniently popular yet ultimately ineffective sales tax holidays. Whether it’s a state looking for a way to help families manage the rising cost of goods or to celebrate back-to-school shopping season, these policy options are poorly targeted and an inadequate use of state tax revenue that could be doing more to make childcare more affordable, health care more accessible and high-quality education available to everyone.
From the Bay State to the Golden State, lawmakers across the nation are making deals and negotiating budgets with major tax implications...
Although the sun is shining and Independence Day is right around the corner, many state lawmakers are still indoors hammering out the details of future budgets or still hard at work passing laws...
With many state legislative sessions wrapped or wrapping up, we at ITEP want to take a moment to direct your attention south, and specifically, to the American South...
New ITEP Report Examines the Path to Equitable Tax Policy in the South
June 22, 2022 • By Kamolika Das
“From the inception of the emerging American nation, the South is a central battleground in the struggles for freedom, justice, and equality. It is the location of the most intense repression, exploitation, and reaction directed toward Africans Americans, as well as Native Americans and working people generally. At the same time the South is the […]
With inflation dominating headlines both nationally and locally, state lawmakers around the U.S. are searching for ways to put their revenues to good use, and not surprisingly, some options are better than others...
Rising Prices: Another Reason to Be Wary of Tax Cutting Right Now
June 10, 2022 • By Carl Davis
Many state lawmakers see any economic challenge as an excuse to cut taxes and in 2022, some are citing inflation as a reason to do so. All eyes today are on the inflation rate facing consumers which, spurred on in part by rising corporate profits, is now running at its fastest pace in decades. But […]
Blog Categories
Institute on Taxation
and Economic Policy
ITEP is a non-profit, non-partisan tax policy organization. We conduct rigorous analyses of tax and economic proposals and provide data-driven recommendations to shape equitable and sustainable tax systems.
Subscribe to ITEP Emails
Tax research and policy news in your inbox.
Promote Fair Tax Policy
Your gift to ITEP promotes tax justice. With your help, we do research that supports taxing millionaires and billionaires, taxing big corporations and raising revenue for the things our people, our communities and our planet need.
Together, we can create a country with more economic justice, more racial justice, more climate justice… and more tax justice.