Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP)

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State Rundown 11/5: Election Day Put Taxes on the Ballot

• By ITEP Staff

While voters delivered an historic rebuke of the economic and tax policies of the Trump administration as affordability concerns became a flashpoint, voters also decided on major tax ballot questions that will raise and protect revenue and do more to tax the rich in Washington, California, and Colorado.

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Voters Pass Ballot Measures to Raise and Protect Revenue, Tax the Rich

• By Aidan Davis, Jon Whiten

Voters in states across the country on Tuesday passed critical ballot measures to raise and protect revenue and increase tax fairness. In three of four cases, voters showed their support for taxing the rich.

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State Rundown 8/13: Income Tax Elimination Fails in Missouri

• By ITEP Staff

In a win for Missouri workers and families, voters overwhelmingly rejected a proposed amendment that would have allowed lawmakers to replace the state's income tax with increased or expanded sales taxes.

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Missouri Voters Reject Amendment 5 and a Damaging Tax Shift onto Working Families

• By Eli Byerly-Duke, Jon Whiten

Yesterday Missouri voters rejected Amendment 5, declining to give lawmakers a blank check to raise or expand sales taxes, something some lawmakers sought to enable enormous income tax cuts for the state’s wealthiest households.

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State Rundown 7/29: The Misguided, Miserly Missouri Amendment to Eliminate the Income Tax

• By ITEP Staff

Missouri voters are facing a major decision at the ballot box next week on Amendment 5, which would amend the state constitution to allow lawmakers to eliminate the individual income tax and expand the state’s sales tax on any good or service to make up for lost revenue.

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State Rundown 6/4: Fiscal Flowers and Weeds Bloom in June

• By ITEP Staff

A veritable superbloom of tax and budget policies occurred over these last few weeks, including both flowers worth admiring and weeds worth fighting back.

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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.

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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.

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State Rundown 3/26: Sobering Revenue Projections Keep States on Their Toes

• By ITEP Staff

This week, troubling revenue projections are making headlines, with many lawmakers scrambling to determine how the tax changes at the federal level, plus price hikes driven by national policy decisions, will impact their states.

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States Like Missouri Are Seeking to Raise Taxes on the Working Class to Cut Taxes for the Rich

• By Eli Byerly-Duke

A proposal to replace the Missouri personal income tax with a higher sales tax would increase costs for low- and middle-income households while giving the richest Missourians an average annual tax cut of almost $40,000.

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State Rundown 3/12: Washington Lawmakers Pass Millionaires’ Tax, Expand Working Families Tax Credit

• By ITEP Staff

Washington is on its way to making history after the legislature approved the “millionaires’ tax,” a 9.9 percent tax on income over $1 million. The bill, which is expected to raise more than $3 billion a year, making significant investments in public education and childcare, will also expand the Working Families Tax Credit – the […]

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State Rundown 3/4: Budget Realities Set In

• By ITEP Staff

As many state legislative sessions near or cross the halfway point, lawmakers are facing tough choices.

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State Rundown 2/25: Sausage-Making Season Is Upon Us

• By ITEP Staff

National Sausage Month isn’t until October, but now is the time of year when state lawmakers are really diving into their sausage-making processes, as separate legislative houses and oftentimes political parties send competing bills, budgets, and visions back and forth to grind out their differences.

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State Rundown 2/19: Necktie (NCTI) Offers a Way Out of a Knotty Situation

• By ITEP Staff

State lawmakers are grappling with a range of challenges as their fiscal outlooks deteriorate, federal tax enforcement wanes (after the Trump administration cut the IRS workforce by 25 percent), and a rewritten federal tax code sends states scrambling to decide what changes they might want to make in their own codes.

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What Did 2025 State Tax Changes Mean for Racial and Economic Equity?

• By Brakeyshia Samms

The results are a mixed bag, with some states enacting promising policies that will improve tax equity and others going in the opposite direction.

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State Rundown 1/28: State Tax Cutting Plans Face Scrutiny

• By ITEP Staff

As state legislative sessions ramp up across the country, property taxes are one of many issues dominating tax policy conversations in statehouses.

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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.

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Show Me Where We’re Going: Missouri’s Fiscally Irresponsible Path Will Be Paid for by Everyday People

• By Logan Liguore

Missouri lawmakers have been pushing regressive and shortsighted tax policies that undermine everyday workers and sabotage the Show-Me State’s ability to raise revenue.

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2025: The Year in Tax Policy

• By ITEP Staff

From Congressional discussions over the so-called "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" to debates on property taxes, ITEP kept busy this year analyzing tax proposals and showing Americans across the country how tax decisions affect them.

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Not-So-Free Kick: How the 2026 FIFA World Cup Will Cost Cities Millions

• By Page Gray

FIFA demanded sales tax breaks on World Cup Tickets. That means millions in lost revenue for host cities already shouldering the costs on providing infrastructure, security and logistics.

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State Rundown 11/13: States Tackle Impending Deficits, Pennsylvania Secures an EITC

• 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.

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In 2025, Voters Said Yes to Public Resources and Community Investments

• By Rita Jefferson

Important tax measures were on the ballot this week, and the outcomes are clear: many voters support new state and local spending to support critical services in their communities.

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State Rundown 10/27: As Temperatures Cool Tax Policy Heats Up

• By ITEP Staff

States across the nation are debating how best to respond to costly new federal tax cuts.

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State Rundown 10/1: State and Local Governments Doing the Opposite of Shutting Down

• By ITEP Staff

State and local officials are staying very busy by considering a dizzying amount of reversals.

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State Tax Action in 2025: Amid Uncertainty, Tax Cuts and New Revenue

• 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.