Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

ITEP Work in Action

Indiana Institute for Working Families: Tax Rate Cuts to Offset Gas and Cigarette Tax Increases? There are Better Ways

January 9, 2017

  Ensuring Indiana has funding needed to adequately repair its roads and bridges over the next several years is a top priority among lawmakers this legislative session. Among the proposed infrastructure improvement plans is HB 1001, which would raise the state’s gasoline tax by 4 cents per gallon, the tax on diesel fuel by 7 […]

Voices for Illinois Children: Fair Tax Bill Introduced

January 9, 2017

Representative Lou Lang introduced a fair tax rate structure (House Bill 689), which would provide over 99% of income taxpayers with a tax cut while raising $1.9 billion to prevent more harmful budget cuts. Read more here

Connecticut Voices for Children: Impact of the Final FY 2017 Budget on Children and Families

January 9, 2017

“Following hundreds of millions of dollars in budget cuts in Fiscal Year 2016, Connecticut policymakers tackled the nearly $1 billion budget deficit in Fiscal Year 2017 (FY 17) by adopting a two-pronged austerity approach. First, policymakers refused to consider any new revenues, taking a cuts-only method that struck $233.6 million from programs that support children […]

California Budget & Policy Center: Should California Maintain Higher Taxes on the Wealthiest to Fund Education, Health Care, and Other Services?

January 9, 2017

“Proposition 30, approved by voters in 2012, provided critical revenues to California at a time when the state faced daunting budgetary challenges. Prop. 30’s tax rate increases are scheduled to fully expire at the end of 2018. Prop. 55, which will appear on the November 8, 2016 statewide ballot, would extend for 12 years the […]

California Budget & Policy Center: What Has Proposition 30 Meant for California?

January 9, 2017

Proposition 30, approved by voters in 2012, provided critical revenues to California at a time when the state faced daunting fi scal challenges. These revenues increased school funding and allowed for reinvestment in other public services after years of cuts. Prop. 30’s tax rate increases are scheduled to expire over the next several years. Although […]

Kansas Center for Economic Growth: KCEG Testimony to the House Taxation Committee as Neutral on HB 2023.

January 9, 2017

The LLC Loophole is unfair, expensive, and failed to create jobs. According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, the LLC loophole costs Kansas nearly $290 million per year. It was originally touted as the plan’s signature feature, but now legislators and business leaders of all political stripes publicly acknowledge that it failed to […]

Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families: Problems down the road with governor’s highway plan

January 9, 2017

“The governor wants to get through the first year by spending down some of the rainy day fund and using part of reamining surplus funds. As far as short term solutions, it could be a lot worse. But big problems with the Governor’s plan show up in year two and beyond. The plan leaves a […]

Louisiana Department of Transportation & Development: Sustainable Solutions for Multimodal Transportation Infrastructure in Louisiana

January 9, 2017

The Governor’s Task Force on Transportation Infrastructure Investment​ is an 18-member Task Force established by Governor Edwards to recommend community-driven solutions for Louisiana’s transportation infrastructure investment needs. The Task Force submitted its formal recommendations to the Governor in December 2016. Read the full report here

North Carolina Justice Center: 12 Charts about N.C.’s Economy in 2016

January 6, 2017

“The economic challenges that face North Carolina families were front and center in 2016. North Carolina wrestled with the disconnect between political rhetoric and everyday reality this election year, thanks to a recovery that failed to boost wages or provide enough jobs for many of our communities. Here are 12 charts that tell the story […]

Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center: A Fair Share Tax Plan for Pennsylvania

January 6, 2017

“One barrier to raising revenues is the reluctance of legislators on both sides of the aisle to place additional taxes on Pennsylvania’s poor and middle-class. That reluctance is well motivated. Over the last 25 years, incomes for the richest Pennsylvanians have been rising fast while incomes for all other Pennsylvanians have been stagnant. Despite that, […]

Policy Matters Ohio: Flat Tax Would Make Most Ohioans Pay More

January 5, 2017

Using a sophisticated model of Ohio’s tax system, the national research group, Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), found that with a 3.5 percent flat tax, 72 percent of Ohioans would pay more state income tax, while just 4 percent would pay less. The remaining 24 percent would pay the same amount as they […]

Montana Budget & Policy Center: Montana Corporate Income Taxes

December 31, 2016

For generations, our tax dollars have served as shared investments in the programs and services that make our state a great place to live, work, and play. Tax dollars enable Montanans to work together to achieve things which we could not do alone - educate our children, build and maintain infrastructure, provide public safety through police and fire protection, keep our air and water clean, and pave the way to a stronger and more inclusive economy.

The Governor’s Task Force on Infrastructure Investment: Sustainable Solutions for Multimodal Transportaion Infrastructure in Louisiana

December 19, 2016

Pursuant to the charges of JBE 2016-23, the Governor’s Task Force on Transportation Infrastructure Investment (Task Force) worked diligently over a six-month period to determine what must be done to address Louisiana’s vast multimodal transportation issues. Through the course of six formal meetings at the capitol and by attending eight regional meetings across the State […]

Report to the Louisiana Governor: SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS FOR MULTIMODAL TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE IN LOUISIANA

December 18, 2016

Pursuant to the charges of JBE 2016-23, the Governor’s Task Force on Transportation Infrastructure Investment (Task Force) worked diligently over a six-month period to determine what must be done to address Louisiana’s vast multimodal transportation issues. Through the course of six formal meetings at the capitol and by attending eight regional meetings across the State […]

Kansas Center for Economic Growth: A Guide to Comprehensive Tax Reform in Kansas

December 18, 2016

The morning after the election was tough. Half the country woke up feeling devastated, the other half awoke feeling excited. Regardless of who you voted for, it’s hard to come back together when we feel so deeply divided. In Kansas, however, we have a special opportunity to rise to the occasion. Read more here

Georgia Budget & Policy Institute: A Bottom-Up Tax Cut to Build Georgia’s Middle Class Update

December 16, 2016

Building a better Georgia, with a strong economy and vibrant communities, requires a more resilient middle class and more opportunities for working families to climb the economic ladder. One of the best tools to help ensure that all Georgians share in that prosperity is a state-level Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), or Georgia Work Credit. […]

Migration Policy Institute: The Costs of Brain Waste among Highly Skilled Immigrants in the United States

December 13, 2016

“While the United States has long been a top destination for the world’s best and brightest, it has fallen short when it comes to fully tapping the skills and training of these newcomers. As a result, nearly 2 million immigrants with college degrees in the United States—one out of every four—are relegated to low-skilled jobs […]

Kentucky Center for Economic Policy: Those at the Top Would Get More Tax Breaks, Investments Would Suffer from Shift to Consumption Taxes

December 13, 2016

“The table below shows the impact, by income group, of two such hypothetical shifts. Notice that even when the shift is seemingly minor – one penny less on the dollar for the top income tax rate and one penny more on the sales tax rate – the top one percent of households get a $5,396 […]

Montana Budget & Policy Center: Introduction to Who Pays Montana’s Taxes

November 30, 2016

Chart 1 outlines the three main state and local taxes – income, property, and sales/excise—and how the cost of these taxes is distributed among taxpayers. Both property and sales/excise taxes are regressive. Conversely, income taxes are progressive.

Montana Budget & Policy Center: Montana’s Individiual Income Tax

November 30, 2016

Prior to the tax cuts implemented in 2003, Montana had ten different income brackets, with each higher income bracket paying a slightly larger share of their income in taxes (Appendix A). In this old structure, the lowest income bracket paid 2% of their income in taxes, while the highest bracket (applying to incomes over $102,000, […]

Maine Center for Economic Policy: Moving Maine Students to the Head of the Class

November 1, 2016

“This November, Maine voters will consider a ballot initiative (Question 2) that rolls back recent tax breaks for the wealthy and dedicates this revenue toward additional state level resources for schools. The Maine Center for Economic Policy (MECEP) examined the context for this initiative, its potential to promote tax fairness, and its capacity to improve […]

New Jersey Policy Perspectives: Transportation-Funding Deal Endangers New Jersey’s Future & Fails the ‘Tax Fairness’ Test

October 4, 2016

After a months-long stalemate, New Jersey’s three most powerful policymakers announced late last Friday that they’d come to an agreement on investing in the state’s transportation networks. As part of the deal, the leaders have agreed to a large-scale package of tax cuts that would disproportionately benefit well-off New Jerseyans while further decimating the state’s […]

Montana Budget & Policy Center: A Montana Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)

September 30, 2016

Approximately 83,000 Montanans received the federal EITC in 2014. If Montana established a state EITC, these same working families would receive additional support through boosted wages and would be better able to meet their family’s needs. Additionally, low-income families receiving a state EITC would face a reduced tax burden.

Policy Matters Ohio: Testimony: Tax Cuts, Flat Tax Aren’t the Answer

September 26, 2016

Overall, the top 1 percent, who made more than $360,000 a year in 2014, received an average annual tax cut of $20,000 from the major tax changes between 2005 and 2014 (that doesn’t include last year’s cuts). On average, Ohioans in the bottom 60 percent of the income spectrum (making $54,000 or less) are paying slightly more.

West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy: Modernizing West Virginia’s Marijuana Laws

August 18, 2016

“Over the last two decades, states across the country have modernized their marijuana laws to reflect the growing evidence that doing so will help reduce criminal justice costs, help treat some medical conditions, and boost tax revenues and their state’s economy. As of 2016, four states and the District of Columbia have legalized the recreational […]

Advocates and policymakers at the state and federal levels rely on ITEP’s analytic capabilities to inform their debates on proposed tax policy changes. In any given year, ITEP fields requests for analyses of policies in 25 or more states. ITEP also works with national partners to provide analyses of federal tax policy proposals. This section highlights reports that use ITEP analyses to make a compelling case for progressive tax reforms.