Blog
State Rundown 5/7: Federal Showers Make States Dour
• By ITEP Staff
The effects of last year’s federal tax and spending cuts continue to ripple through the states. With gas prices soaring due to the Iran war, some states are attempting to provide a bit of relief in the form of gas tax reductions and suspensions.
State Rundown 4/30: Aloha to Tax Cuts, Hawaiʻi Lawmakers Address Revenue Gap with High-End Tax Changes
• By ITEP Staff
This week Hawaiʻi lawmakers reached a compromise to balance the state budget and maintain tax cuts for most residents by, in part, raising rates on the richest Hawaiians. Other states are working to generate revenue from their wealthiest residents, too.
State Rundown 4/23: While Some States Stop Digging, Others Move Full Steam Ahead with Anti-Affordability Agendas
• By ITEP Staff
Missouri lawmakers passed legislation that will have residents vote on a proposal at the ballot box. The ask: for them to pay more in sales taxes to offset cuts – and the possible elimination – of the state's individual income tax, which makes up nearly two-thirds of Missouri’s general fund.
State Rundown 4/16: Tax Day, a New Millionaires’ Tax and Late Blooming State Tax Action
• By ITEP Staff
Yesterday was Tax Day, and with many state legislative sessions wrapping, some tax changes are gearing up or crossing over the finish line.
State Rundown 4/8: Budget and Tax Packages Take Shape as Sine Die Approaches in Many States
• By ITEP Staff
State legislative sessions are wrapping up, and final tax and budget packages are making their way to governors’ desks.
State Rundown 1/14: New Year Brings New Resolutions for Funding Key Priorities
• By ITEP Staff
State governors are beginning to lay out their top priorities as legislatures reconvene in statehouses around the country.
How Much Would Every Family in Every State Get if the Megabill’s Tax Cuts Given to the Rich Had Instead Been Evenly Divided?
• By Michael Ettlinger
If instead of giving $117 billion to the richest 1 percent, that money had been evenly divided among all Americans, we'd each get $343 - or nearly $1,400 for a family of four.
Trump Megabill Will Give $117 Billion in Tax Cuts to the Top 1% in 2026. How Much In Your State?
• By Michael Ettlinger
The predominant feature of the tax and spending bill working its way through Congress is a massive tax cut for the richest 1 percent — a $114 billion benefit to the wealthiest people in the country in 2026 alone.
How Much Do the Top 1% in Each State Get from the Trump Megabill?
• By Carl Davis
The Senate tax bill under debate right now would bring very large tax cuts to very high-income people. In total, the richest 1 percent would receive $114 billion in tax cuts next year alone. That would amount to nearly $61,000 for each of these affluent households.
With Fiscal Uncertainty Looming, Louisiana Senate Did the Right Thing on Tax Bills
• By Neva Butkus
If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging. This is exactly what Louisiana Senators did when they rejected two tax-cut bills that would have created a billion-dollar shortfall in the coming fiscal years.
State Rundown 4/24: States Push Tax Cuts Despite Fiscal Uncertainty
• By ITEP Staff
While some states are preparing for uncertainty – slowing revenue growth, chaos from unpredictable tariffs, cuts to federal programs, etc. – others continue to move forward with plans for deep tax cuts. For instance, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed legislation accelerating the cut to the personal income tax rate, which is currently phasing down. […]
IRS Cooperation with ICE Will Damage Public Trust, Putting Tax Revenues in Jeopardy
• By Marco Guzman
Attempts by the Department of Homeland Security to secure private information from the IRS on people who file taxes with an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number is a violation of federal privacy laws that protect taxpayers. It is also a change that could seriously damage public trust in the IRS, which could jeopardize billions of dollars in tax payments by hardworking immigrant families.
State Rundown 3/6: In the Shadow of Chaotic Federal Policymaking States Seek to Tax the Top, Cut Taxes
• By ITEP Staff
Proposals from governors in both New Jersey and Wisconsin include provisions to tax high-income earners. Meanwhile, several major tax proposals are advancing in the great plains, with Iowa considering a major cut to unemployment taxes, North Dakota advancing new benefits for private schools, and Wyoming cutting property taxes. The District of Columbia is facing a more than a $1 billion revenue shortfall over the next three years, compared to previous estimates, and a mild recession due…
Turning IRS Agents to Deportation Will Reduce Public Revenues
• By Carl Davis, Jon Whiten
The Trump Administration’s plan to turn IRS agents into deportation agents will result in lower tax collections in addition to the harm done to the families and communities directly affected by deportations.
State Rundown 1/22: Tax Policy, Affordability, and Where It Misses the Mark
• By ITEP Staff
As state legislative sessions ramp up many lawmakers discuss their prioritization of affordability of necessities like food and housing as they craft their legislative agendas. Arkansas, Mississippi and Utah are looking to reduce or fully exempt groceries from their state sales taxes. Meanwhile, multiple proposals to reduce property taxes are making their way around state […]
State Rundown 1/15: Tax Debates Heat Up Despite Winter Weather
• By ITEP Staff
While frigid temperatures expected across a large swath of the country, major tax proposals are heating up in the states. Governors are giving their State of the State addresses and state lawmakers have begun to convene for 2025. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced plans to expand the state’s Child Tax Credit earlier this year and has since announced nearly $1 billion in income tax cuts. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore unveiled a new tax proposal…
State Rundown 1/9: New Year, New Pushes for Tax Policy Changes
• By ITEP Staff
It’s a new year, and state legislatures across the country are resolved to write new tax policy. Tax debates are heating up nearly everywhere in the early days of 2025, but states’ fiscal situations vary dramatically. New York is considering expanding the state’s Child Tax Credit following Gov. Hochul’s proposed expansion. On the other side […]
Five Tax Takeaways from 2024 State Legislative Sessions
• By Aidan Davis
Major tax cuts were largely rejected this year, but states continue to chip away at income taxes. And while property tax cuts were a hot topic across the country, many states failed to deliver effective solutions to affordability issues.
State Rundown 6/26: Summer Special Sessions Are In, Anti-tax Ballot Initiatives Out
• By ITEP Staff
Many families are heading out on summer vacations, but legislators across the country are heading back to statehouses for special sessions...
State Rundown 6/13: Decisions are falling into place, but some states will come back for more
• By ITEP Staff
State budgets are falling into place as lawmakers near the end of their legislative sessions...
State Rundown 5/22: When One Legislative Session Closes, Another Opens
• By ITEP Staff
State legislatures are wrapping up, but don’t stray too far from your state capital or you’ll miss out on the action...
Better Tax Codes Help Boost Teacher Pay
• By Alex Welch
There are a variety of factors that affect teacher pay. But one often overlooked factor is progressive tax policies that allow states to raise and provide the funding educators and their students deserve.
State Rundown 5/9: Special Sessions in the Air
• By ITEP Staff
This week, special sessions with major tax implications are in the air...
Eliminating Income Taxes Would Be an Expensive Giveaway
• By Aidan Davis
Governors and legislative leaders in a dozen states have made calls to fully eliminate their taxes on personal or corporate income, after many states already deeply slashed them over the past few years. The public deserves to know the true impact of these plans, which would inevitably result in an outsized windfall to states’ richest taxpayers, more power in the hands of wealthy households and corporations, extreme cuts to basic public services, and more deeply inequitable state…
Recent Tax Cuts Have Expanded Inequality in the States
• By Jon Whiten
Some states have improved tax equity by raising new revenue from the well-off and creating or expanding refundable tax credits for low- and moderate-income families in recent years. Others, however, have gone the opposite direction, pushing through deep and damaging tax cuts that disproportionately help the rich. Many of these negative developments are quantified in […]
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