Blog
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.
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 4/8: 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.
Low Tax for Whom? California vs Texas
• By Cassidy Sheppard
California Gov. Gavin Newsom went to Texas recently and claimed: “Texas taxes poor folks more than we tax our richest." He’s right.
Local Governments Are Increasingly Strapped: 2026 Will Bring New Challenges and New Opportunities
• By Kamolika Das
2025 saw an intensification of state and local tax fights across the country, as well as growing experimentation with local-option taxes, levies, fees, and tourism taxes aimed at keeping budgets afloat while also navigating political constraints imposed by state legislatures.
State Rundown 1/7: New Year, New Opportunities for Progressive Revenue
• 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.
Texas Property Tax Plan Mimics California’s Damaging Prop 13
• By Neva Butkus, Rita Jefferson
This proposal would disrupt the state’s housing market and jeopardize local revenues while doing very little to help workers and families struggling to pay their property tax bills – just as Prop 13 did in California.
State Rundown 12/17: Tax Policy ‘Naughty or Nice’ List Has Late Entrants
• By ITEP Staff
With a little over a week left, some states are solidifying their spots on the tax policy “naughty or nice” list.
State Rundown 12/10: ‘Tis the Season to Reclaim Lost Revenue
• By ITEP Staff
property tax debates are taking place throughout the nation.
State Rundown 12/3: Property Tax Cuts and Deficits
• By ITEP Staff
States are increasingly facing difficult choices as revenues stagnate and deficits come clearer into focus.
States Are Opening a Pandora’s Box of Data Centers
• By Page Gray
State governments are rushing to offer billions of dollars in subsidies to data center construction, apparently without understanding their full costs.
State and Local Policymakers Can Resist Austerity Even Amid Historic Federal Retreat
• By Kamolika Das
The progressivity of the federal tax code has been waning. State and local policymakers should respond by protecting their revenue bases, promoting equity, and safeguarding vulnerable communities from harmful budget cuts.
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.
State Rundown 11/5: Voters Say “Yes!” to Public Investments
• By ITEP Staff
Despite being an off-year election, voters made a call for shared public investments at the polls.
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.
State Rundown 9/4: Colorado Tackles Offshore Corporate Tax Avoidance, Paves Way for State Conformity Best Practices
• By ITEP Staff
Despite an increasingly bleak state revenue outlook, state lawmakers across the country continue to prioritize regressive tax cuts.
State Rundown 8/20: States to Face Serious Conformity, Revenue Issues as Summer Ends
• 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.
State Rundown 8/6: Tax Policy is Hot in the Middle of Summer
• By ITEP Staff
As states prepare for the revenue loss and disruption resulting from the federal tax bill, tax policy is being considered in legislatures across the country.
State Rundown 7/24: States Begin Preparing for Federal Megabill Fallout
• By ITEP Staff
All eyes in statehouses in recent weeks have been on federal budget negotiations, and now that the “megabill” has passed, they are focused in on their own budgets in search of ways to cope with the enormous consequences coming their way. All states will see fewer federal dollars flowing through their coffers, higher needs due […]
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.
10 Crazy Comparisons Showing How Much Trump and Congress Just Cut Taxes for the Rich
• By ITEP Staff
$117 billion is a big number, so we thought it could use a little context.
State Rundown 7/8: State Tax Cuts Continue Despite Federal Megabill Passing
• By ITEP Staff
The last states are wrapping up legislative sessions, and some are crossing the finish line with major income tax cuts.
Local Tax Trends in 2025
• By Rita Jefferson
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?
• 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.
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