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The New Jersey Legislature is considering a proposal to increase the state’s gas tax but at the same time some lawmakers are insisting that that tax increase be paired with tax cuts for the wealthiest New Jerseyans. Perhaps most bizarre is that the state is considering providing a tax cut for retirement and pension income (a move that would benefit the best-off state residents) while also weighing cuts to the revenue that funds state pensions.
A new study released today provides the best evidence yet that progressive state income taxes are not leading to any meaningful amount of “tax flight” among top earners.
Michigan’s “Customer” Service Fail Is a Cautionary Tale about Cutting Taxes and Disinvestment
January 28, 2016 • By Jenice Robinson
The Michigan legislature just approved a $28 million appropriation to provide immediate aid in response to the water crisis in Flint, Mich., where vulnerable children and families have been poisoned by toxic lead. This avoidable crisis partly has roots in the misguided movement to cut taxes so much that state and local governments have difficulty […]
H&R Block Uses Corporate Lobbying Might to Make Sure Poor People Use Its Services
September 3, 2015 • By Jenice Robinson
Public outrage over the financial crisis may have subsided in recent years, but the lasting legacy is a nation that remains acutely aware of exploitative business practices that line the pockets of corporate executives and shareholders at the expense of ordinary working people. Perhaps this is why H&R Block and Intuit quietly lobbied for a […]
Last week, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy released Who Pays?, a report that examines the state and local tax system in all 50 states. The analysis concludes that every state’s tax system is regressive, meaning the lower one’s income, the higher one’s tax rate. Not surprisingly, the report ruffled a few feathers. It’s […]
What’s the Matter with Kansas Is What Ails All 50 States
September 18, 2014 • By Jenice Robinson
It’s easy to hold up Kansas as the poster child for regressive tax policies gone awry. By now it’s apparent Gov. Sam Brownback and his allies in the state legislature were wrong when they predicted lopsided tax cuts would boost the state’s economy. The state will have trouble funding priorities such as education and services […]
The top 20 percent of households captured more of the nation’s collective income (51 percent) than the rest of population, according to the Census report Income and Poverty in the United States: 2013 released today. This is consistent with what we know about worsening income inequality in this nation. Median household income remained relatively stagnant […]
Kansas Supreme Court Case Shows Public Services Suffer When Tax Breaks for Wealthy Take Priority
March 11, 2014 • By Jenice Robinson
Far too often, lawmakers use tax cuts to score political points and throw around phrases such as “more effective government” to gloss over the lasting, negative effects of starving public investments. In the case of Kansas, public schools are paying the price. The state Supreme Court ruled last Friday that the state Legislature hasn’t allocated […]
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