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State Rundown 1/22: Cautious Tone Noticeable in Most Statehouses
January 22, 2026 • By ITEP Staff
Most states are adopting a very cautious approach so far this year as legislators begin their sessions and governors make their annual addresses, thanks to ongoing economic uncertainty and federal retrenchment.
States Can Push Back Against Reckless Federal Tax Policy. Here’s How.
January 22, 2026 • By Aidan Davis, Wesley Tharpe
They should take steps to protect and boost their own revenues. And they should take a second look at their own tax cuts.
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.
States are increasingly facing difficult choices as revenues stagnate and deficits come clearer into focus.
State and Local Policymakers Can Resist Austerity Even Amid Historic Federal Retreat
November 6, 2025 • 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.
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.
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.
State Rundown 7/8: State Tax Cuts Continue Despite Federal Megabill Passing
July 8, 2025 • By ITEP Staff
The last states are wrapping up legislative sessions, and some are crossing the finish line with major income tax cuts.
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 5/21: Big and Not-So Beautiful Tax Cut Bills Abound in States
May 21, 2025 • By ITEP Staff
As a sprawling, regressive tax bill continues to take shape at the federal level, many states are moving forward with major tax cut proposals of their own.
Trump’s Proposed Higher Tax Rate on the Richest Taxpayers Would Affect Very Little of Their Income
May 10, 2025 • By Carl Davis, Steve Wamhoff
President Donald Trump has proposed allowing the top rate to revert from 37 percent to 39.6 percent for taxable income greater than $5 million for married couples and $2.5 million for unmarried taxpayers. But many other special breaks in the tax code would ensure that most income of very well-off people would never be subject to Trump’s 39.6 percent tax rate.
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.
Equitable (and Less Equitable) Washington State Revenue Raisers
April 24, 2025 • By Dylan Grundman O'Neill
Washington state came into the year with strong tax justice momentum. Lawmakers’ innovative Capital Gains Excise Tax on the state’s highest-income households was upheld by the state and federal Supreme Courts and was overwhelmingly affirmed by voters despite a well-funded repeal effort. The new tax is bringing in much-needed revenue for schools, child care, and […]
State Rundown 4/24: States Push Tax Cuts Despite Fiscal Uncertainty
April 24, 2025 • 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. […]
State Rundown 4/16: No Vacation from Spring Tax Breaks as Bills Advance
April 16, 2025 • By ITEP Staff
While students and families are enjoying spring break vacations, legislative sessions are still in full swing. And some are poised for a spring tax break season as proposals advance with major implications for the sustainability of state budgets.
Residents and state lawmakers across the country are pushing back against anti-tax measures and are looking for ways to protect revenue and advance proposals that would raise revenue in progressive ways. This comes at a time when federal policy brings significant risks for state tax revenue.
What the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board Got Wrong About Tesla’s Tax Avoidance
April 4, 2025 • By Matthew Gardner
Tesla’s income tax avoidance is still in the news, and that’s a good thing.
State Rundown 3/26: Lawmakers Navigate Shortfalls, Potholes, and Pitfalls
March 26, 2025 • By ITEP Staff
State lawmakers around the country are navigating a range of potential hazards this week. Leaders in Maryland and Washington are facing budget holes but are smartly working to get out of them through progressive taxes on those with the most ability to pay. Both North Dakota and Washington state are looking to fill literal potholes […]
March Madness kicks off today and the pressure is on as many states’ legislative sessions are nearing the final buzzer. Some state lawmakers are seemingly competing for the title of most regressive state tax policies while others are looking to lift up best practices for more equitable outcomes. The Mississippi legislature landed on a […]
In the face of immense uncertainty around looming federal tax and budget decisions, many of which could threaten state budgets, state lawmakers have an opportunity to show up for their constituents by raising and protecting the revenue needed to fund shared priorities. Lawmakers have a choice: advance tax policies that improve equity and help communities thrive, or push tax policies that disproportionately benefit the wealthy, drain funding for critical public services, and make it harder for most families to get ahead.
State Rundown 2/12: State Tax Policy Heats Up as Winter Storms Sweep Much of the Country
February 12, 2025 • By ITEP Staff
Tax policy proposals are a hot topic of conversation across the country. Both North and South Dakota are considering property taxes cuts, while proposed cuts in Florida, Mississippi, and Texas are percolating. Meanwhile, fiscal conditions are tight in states like Alaska, Tennessee, Oklahoma, and West Virginia. None are on the cusp of passing new revenue, but years of recent tax cuts and inflation have caught up to states and many lawmakers have revenue gaps to close.
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