Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP)

Citations

ITEP's Citations Research Priorities

Education Week: How Do Schools Solve a Problem Like Property Taxes?

February 19, 2026

As tax season dawns, backlash to a nationwide surge in property-tax bills is spurring states to double down on proposals to diminish one of the main revenue sources for school districts. At least 10 states are pitching the end of one of schools’ chief revenue sources. Read more.

Kansas City Star: Tell Kansas’ Senators Not to Give Ultra-Wealthy a ‘Big Beautiful’ Tax Loophole | Opinion

June 2, 2025

How’s that for a fun new federal tax scam to help the super-wealthy? “Donate” $10 million in stock to charity, purchased for $6 million — then get all $10 million back in tax credits and avoid more than $1 million in capital gains taxes. Massive benefits for already rich individuals — you gotta love it.

Audio: ITEP’s Rita Jefferson Talks Property Tax Reform with KKFI-FM in Kansas City

April 4, 2025

The Kansas legislature failed to place an amendment on the ballot that would cap property valuations.  ITEP Local Analyst Rita Jefferson joined the Heartland Labor Forum live to discuss responsible ways to control soaring property taxes. (Her segment begins around the 30-minute mark.)

Kentucky lawmakers are expected to vote early in the legislative session on another half-point cut to the individual income tax rate, a drop from 4% to 3.5%. This cut is expected to pass despite a projected decline in tax revenues due to the income tax reductions of the last couple of years. With this next drop, the state will get closer to the level of tax cuts Kansas put in place in 2013 and was forced to reverse just five years later because the state wasn’t bringing in enough money to meet its obligations.

ITEP’s Kamolika Das Responds to Misleading Baltimore Sun Op-ed

September 19, 2024

ITEP Local Policy Director Kamolika Das had this letter to the editor published in the Baltimore Sun on September 18: David F. Tufaro’s recent commentary about the Renew Baltimore campaign is wildly misleading (“Baltimore’s high property taxes sustain a broken system,” Sept. 15). The Renew Baltimore proposal to drastically cut and permanently cap Baltimore’s property tax […]

NPR: Kansas Lawmakers Will Consider Tax Cuts During Their Special Session

June 18, 2024

Kansas' Republican-led Legislature is pushing for tax cuts. But critics worry about repeating the failed tax cuts from 2012 that blew holes in the state’s budgets for years.

Capital & Main: The Return of Trickle-Down Economics

June 6, 2024

The return of trickle-down economics — the much-criticized theory that tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy eventually result in job growth and higher wages for the middle class and working class — has inspired a fierce debate in the Kansas Legislature that has gone on for months. A bill that included a flat 5.25% personal income tax, an 8% reduction from the current rate for top earners, was approved by Republicans in both chambers, though critics say it would disproportionately benefit the wealthy in the state. The top 20% of earners in Kansas — those with average annual incomes above…

AP News: Kansas Governor Vetoes Tax Cuts She Says Would Favor ‘Super Wealthy’

January 29, 2024

But the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy reported that even with the changes designed to benefit poorer taxpayers, 70% of the savings in raw dollars will go to the 20% of filers earning more than $143,000 a year.

Associated Press: GOP Lawmakers, Democratic Governor in Kansas Fighting Again Over Income Tax Cuts

January 18, 2024

Top Republican legislators in Kansas have renewed a fight with the Democratic governor over income tax cuts that have drawn bipartisan criticism as favoring the wealthy, with no sign of a break in an impasse that thwarted tax relief last year. Read more.

Kansas Legislators’ War on the Poor Opens Worrisome New Front: School Vouchers and Tax Avoidance

March 13, 2023

Kansas legislative leaders have declared war on the poor. They have pushed bills penalizing those receiving government assistance through the House Welfare Reform Committee. They have advocated a flat tax plan that benefits the wealthy at the expense of everyone else. We have watched these proposals unfold in recent weeks, watched and heard the disdain. Yet the war has […]

Kansas Reflector: Kansas Senate Flat Tax Would Cut $1 for Low-Wage Earners, Hand Windfall to Top 1%

February 22, 2023

A flat tax plan moving through the Senate is structured to provide minimal relief to low-income Kansans while granting a windfall to high wage earners. Read more.

The state has seen increased revenue in recent years, with the state budget including millions of dollars in surplus revenue. The temporary, higher receipts have led to several tax cut proposals. Now, some politicians and special business interest groups are proposing to use lingering budget surpluses to tilt the tax code even further in their favor. […]

Kansas Reflector: Analysis Show Kansas Chamber’s Flat Tax Proposal Costs $1.5B, Favors Top 20% of Wage Earners

January 30, 2023

Assessments by the Kansas budget director and an independent tax policy institute Monday showed the flat tax proposal by the Kansas Chamber would reduce the state budget by $1.5 billion per year and primarily benefit the state’s most affluent wage earners. Read more.

Yahoo News: Flat Income Taxes: Who Are the Biggest Winners and Losers?

January 25, 2023

From Kansas to Wisconsin to Nebraska, the conversation surrounding a flat tax has picked up as of late, with more state legislators pushing for as much. Read more.

Governor Parson’s recently released tax proposal would leave out about one-third of Missourians, including many of those who pay the highest proportion of their income in state & local taxes, and set the state up for a Kansas-like budget bomb that would require significant cuts to schools, public safety, healthcare, and other critical needs. Read […]

In the midst of a global pandemic and recession, the Kansas Legislature shockingly continues to consider bills that will further lower the already low tax responsibilities of corporations and high-income Kansans. Lawmakers should reject legislation like Senate Bill 22 and instead work to enhance economic and racial equity through Kansas’s tax code. Our state’s leaders […]

Kansas City Star: Is There a Property Tax Fix for Next Year?

September 4, 2019

“Circuit breakers help offset the unfairness of a regressive property tax by identifying the individual taxpayers for whom property taxes are most burdensome and reducing their tax to a manageable level,” says the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. No homeowner should lose his or her residence because of an exorbitant property tax bill. Read […]

Kansans believe in fairness. However, a recent study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) and the Kansas Center for Economic Growth finds that the lowest-income Kansans are contributing a higher share of their income to fund our priorities. Without an equitable tax structure, we will struggle to make necessary investments in great […]

Associated Press: Kansas Governor’s Race is Referendum on Notorious Tax Cuts

October 18, 2018

The argument over taxes is likely to dominate the campaign’s final weeks; it is playing out in television ads and was a persistent theme Tuesday. Tax cuts appeal to voters in a GOP-leaning state like Kansas, but the fiscal problems that followed Brownback’s tax experiment made Kansas a memorable cautionary tale across the U.S. “It’s […]

Topeka-Capital Journal: New Study: Kansas’ Tax Policy Ranks as 23rd Most Regressive in the Nation

October 17, 2018

A 50-state study of tax systems found Kansas’ lowest-income residents pay 1.5 times more in taxes as a percent of income compared with the wealthiest residents, ranking the state 23rd in the nation on an equity index. “State lawmakers have control over how their tax systems are structured,” said Meg Wiehe, the institute’s deputy director and a study author. “They can and should enact more equitable tax policies that raise adequate revenue in a fair, sustainable way.”

A new study released today by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy and the Kansas Center for Economic Growth finds that the lowest-income Kansans pay 1.5 times more in taxes as a percent of their income compared with the state’s wealthiest residents.

Washington Post: Iowa Republicans pitch ‘crisis-proof’ tax cuts. Democrats see another Kansas in the making.

May 8, 2018

"The trigger is a politically expedient way for lawmakers to claim they’ve cut your taxes without having to do anything immediately to make up for the consequences of reducing revenue," said Meg Wiehe, of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a left-leaning think tank.

systemic barriers facing Kansans can strengthen our state’s economy. Using data broken out by race and ethnicity, gender, and immigration status, the entries highlight areas for policymakers to address to ensure continued economic prosperity for every Kansan. Policy and research analyst Emily Fetsch examined data in recent reports from the Kansas Health Institute and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.

A recent report from the Institute of Tax and Economic Policy (ITEP) shows how undocumented immigrants in Kansas demonstrate their commitment to our state and increase state revenue through the taxes they pay. Read more here

Currently, undocumented immigrants residing in Kansas pay nearly $68 million a year in state and local taxes. By granting undocumented immigrants full and legal status, Kansas could receive an additional $11 million in state and local taxes annually, creating a nearly $79 million state and local tax contribution from the undocumented immigrant population. Read more […]