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182 posts
State Rundown 1/7: New Year, New Opportunities for Progressive Revenue
January 7, 2026 • By ITEP Staff
As we kick off a new year, several states are facing revenue shortfalls. Some lawmakers are approaching the challenge with sustainable and equitable solutions.
State Rundown 12/17: Tax Policy ‘Naughty or Nice’ List Has Late Entrants
December 17, 2025 • By ITEP Staff
With a little over a week left, some states are solidifying their spots on the tax policy “naughty or nice” list.
No, Scott Bessent: States Aren’t Taking Away Anyone’s Tax Cuts
December 11, 2025 • By Nick Johnson
It’s wildly inappropriate for a U.S. Treasury Secretary to lean on states to adopt or not adopt specific federal provisions in their own state tax codes.
States are increasingly facing difficult choices as revenues stagnate and deficits come clearer into focus.
Conforming to the ‘No Tax on Tips’ Gimmick Just Got Riskier and Costlier for States
November 25, 2025 • By Nick Johnson
An unknown number of workers who previously were assumed to be ineligible for the tax break may nonetheless claim it.
State Rundown 11/24: States Say ‘No Thank You’ to Federal Tax Cuts Reducing State Revenue
November 24, 2025 • By ITEP Staff
Lawmakers in two more states have wisely said “no thank you” to federal tax cuts that would have flowed through to their state tax codes and undermined funding for their priorities
State Rundown 11/13: States Tackle Impending Deficits, Pennsylvania Secures an EITC
November 13, 2025 • By ITEP Staff
Revenue forecasts look increasingly grim as states anticipate shortfalls due to the slowing economy and impacts of the new federal tax law.
Despite being an off-year election, voters made a call for shared public investments at the polls.
States across the nation are debating how best to respond to costly new federal tax cuts.
State Rundown 10/1: State and Local Governments Doing the Opposite of Shutting Down
October 1, 2025 • By ITEP Staff
State and local officials are staying very busy by considering a dizzying amount of reversals.
State Rundown 9/18: Lawmakers Confront Revenue Loss from Federal Policy Changes
September 18, 2025 • By ITEP Staff
Some states are trying to avoid revenue loss while others are welcoming it and doubling down.
State Rundown 8/20: States to Face Serious Conformity, Revenue Issues as Summer Ends
August 20, 2025 • By ITEP Staff
While tax news has slowed as summer comes to an end, there are rumblings beneath the surface that could be an inauspicious sign of the times ahead for states and state budgets.
Trump’s Tax Law Clobbers State Budgets. Now’s the Time to Prepare.
August 13, 2025 • By ITEP Staff
The Trump megabill hands the richest 1% a trillion-dollar windfall while gutting funding for health care, education, and disaster relief — leaving communities to pick up the pieces. State and local leaders must step up, tax the wealthiest fairly, and safeguard the essentials that keep America healthy, educated, and safe.
State Tax Action in 2025: Amid Uncertainty, Tax Cuts and New Revenue
July 28, 2025 • By Aidan Davis, Neva Butkus, Marco Guzman
Federal policy choices on tariffs, taxes, and spending cuts will be deeply felt by all states, which will have less money available to fund key priorities. This year some states raised revenue to ensure that their coffers were well-funded, some proceeded with warranted caution, and many others passed large regressive tax cuts that pile on to the massive tax cuts the wealthiest just received under the federal megabill.
Refundable tax credits were a big part of state tax policy conversations this year. In 2025, nine states improved or created Child Tax Credits or Earned Income Tax Credits.
How Much Would Every Family in Every State Get if the Megabill’s Tax Cuts Given to the Rich Had Instead Been Evenly Divided?
July 14, 2025 • 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.
As federal aid ends and economic uncertainty grows, local governments face tough budget choices. Now is the time for localities to protect vulnerable residents and build stronger, more equitable fiscal foundations.
Trump Megabill Will Give $117 Billion in Tax Cuts to the Top 1% in 2026. How Much In Your State?
June 30, 2025 • 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?
June 30, 2025 • 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.
Many states are reaching their end-of-June budget deadlines, and major tax policy changes look to have big implications as states are forced, per federal policy, to do more with less.
State Rundown 6/5: States Wrap Sessions, Some Prepare for Fiscal Uncertainty
June 5, 2025 • By ITEP Staff
States use the final hours of their legislative sessions to address deficits and preserve revenue in preparation for the times ahead.
State Rundown 5/7: As Budget Season Heats Up, Tax Proposals Are Getting Serious
May 7, 2025 • By ITEP Staff
With spring in full bloom ,many state lawmakers are reaching tax policy agreements. Out west, lawmakers in North Dakota and Texas have moved major property tax cuts. Meanwhile, in the east and south, Vermont appears likely to pass an expansion to its Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit, and South Carolina lawmakers are aiming to make deep, drastic cuts to the state’s income tax.
State Rundown 5/1: State Tax Debates Wrapping Up, and Just Beginning
May 1, 2025 • By ITEP Staff
The rampant uncertainty this year extends far beyond the national economy and federal policy, as many state legislatures are declaring their tax and budget debates finished, and just getting started, sometimes in the same breath.
IRS Cooperation with ICE Will Damage Public Trust, Putting Tax Revenues in Jeopardy
April 10, 2025 • 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.
This week, we celebrate 50 years of the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the impact it's had on millions of workers and families. In 2023 alone, the latest year of available data, the federal EITC alongside the refundable portion of the Child Tax Credit lifted 6.4 million people and 3.4 million children out of poverty.
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