ITEP Work in Action

Montana Budget and Policy Center: Ending Preferential Treatment of Capital Gains Income

January 14, 2013

The 61st Legislature is faced with the unenviable challenge of balancing the budget during a time of economic downturn and revenue uncertainty. Ending preferential treatment for capital gains income will offer fiscal security for Montana while restoring some of the progressivity of the Montana income tax system. Furthermore, extensive research shows that there is little […]

Washington State Budget and Policy Center: The Working Families Tax Rebate

January 14, 2013

Washington State is in a deep economic recession. Working families are struggling to make ends meet as more and more people lose their jobs, their homes, and their health insurance. Businesses are struggling to survive as consumer spending plummets. An unprecedented state budget deficit threatens to make the situation worse. Legislators have responded to the […]

Economic Opportunity Institute: An Income Tax for Washington: Questions and Answers

January 14, 2013

Washington State has been losing ground on education for 15 years, slipping towards the bottom of national rankings in class size and school funding. Our children, workers, and businesses deserve better. The recession highlights how difficult it is to raise additional revenues to maintain and improve public services, given Washington’s outmoded and regressive tax structure. […]

Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center: Responsible Growth: Protecting the Public Interest with a Natural Gas Severance Tax

January 14, 2013

Currently, Pennsylvania is the only major fossil fuel-producing state that does not levy a mineral extraction, or severance, tax to recover some of the costs borne by citizens and to compensate them for the loss of a finite natural resource. Levying a tax on natural gas extraction will help achieve both of these goals. The […]

Policy Matters Ohio: Dollars That Make Sense 2009

January 14, 2013

For the 2005 tax year, more than 800,000 Ohio families received the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), a refundable tax credit for workers in families that make less than $42,000. The average EITC in Ohio was $1,756, bringing more than $1.4 billion into Ohio communities. Adding a 5 percent Ohio EITC to supplement the […]

Missouri Budget Project: Consequences of HJR 36: Proposal to Dramatically Alter Missouri’s Tax Structure Would Burden Missouri Families and Economy

January 14, 2013

Recently, the Missouri House of Representatives passed HJR 36, a constitutional amendment which proposes dramatic changes to the state’s revenue structure by eliminating the individual and corporate income taxes and replacing them with a greatly expanded sales tax. If passed by the State Senate and then approved by voters, this shift would create a significant […]

DC Fiscal Policy Institute: Raising Revenue by Creating a New Tax Bracket for Top Earners: A Progressive Approach to Addressing DC’s Budget Shortfall

January 14, 2013

A DC Councilmember has proposed raising the income tax rate on the District’s wealthiest residents as a way to generate money for next year’s budget. The idea has been met with some skepticism, including the belief that this will push the well-off to leave the city. Yet for several reasons, this bill should be taken […]

Georgia Budget and Policy Institute: Fact Sheet: Capital Gains Tax Breaks

January 14, 2013

Capital gains tax preferences are costly, inequitable, and ineffective. They deprive states of millions of dollars in needed funds, benefit almost exclusively the very wealthiest members of society, and fail to promote economic growth in the manner their proponents claim. Read the Full Report (PDF)

Connecticut Voices for Children: Building a Reliable, Fair and Accountable 21st Century Revenue System

January 14, 2013

Connecticut’s revenue system is falling short of providing the revenues we need to maintain the public structures that keep Connecticut strong and vibrant, including our education, health, public safety, environmental protection, and transportation systems. This candidate brief reviews problems with Connecticut’s state revenue system. In Connecticut, wealthy residents pay a smaller share of their income […]

Rhode Island Poverty Institute: Improving Equity, Adequacy, and Efficiency in Rhode Island’s Tax Structure

January 14, 2013

This issue brief explains the importance of a sound tax system, with recommendations on improving the equity, adequacy and efficiency of Rhode Island tax structure.

Maine Center for Economic Policy: Now is the Time for Tax Reform: Can LD 1088 Deliver?

January 14, 2013

Taxes are central to our individual and collective well-being. Taxes provide the revenue that supports the physical infrastructure, the education, health care, and environmental protections that we have collectively decided are essential to keep our communities and families thriving. Still, the way government collects taxes has significant implications for the reliability and fairness of the […]

Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families: Unbalanced: How the Arkansas Tax and Budget System is Hurting Low-and Middle-Income Families

January 14, 2013

Alabama Arise: The 2009 Tax Fairness Amendment: Answers to Some Common Questions

January 14, 2013

Answers to some frequently asked questions about the 2009 Tax Fairness Amendment. Read the Full Report (PDF)

California Budget Project: Uncharted Waters: Navigating the Social and Economic Context of California’s Budget

January 14, 2013

Read the Original Full Powerpoint

Wisconsin Budget Project: Taxation of Capital Gains Income

January 14, 2013

Wisconsin is one of nine states that provide a broad tax break for capital gains. That tax exclusion has become a key budget issue after the state Senate voted on June 17 to eliminate the tax break for such income, in lieu of creating a new oil company tax. The Governor and Assembly recommended smaller […]

Public Assets Institute: A Balanced Way to Balance the Budget

January 14, 2013

In the end, the Vermont Legislature found a balanced solution to balancing the state budget for fiscal year 2010, which begins July 1. After a gubernatorial veto—the first budget veto in the state’s history—and a dramatic override in a special session on June 2, lawmakers put in place a budget that uses a combination of […]

Oregon Center for Public Policy: Will Poor, Working Families Be Roadkill?

January 14, 2013

The Jobs and Transportation Act’s Regressive Tax and Fee Increases Will Set Back Low-Income Working Families With Children Unless the Legislature Enacts a Modest EITC Expansion Read the Full Report (PDF)

North Carolina Budget and Tax Center: The House Budget: Deteriorating Revenue Picture Forces Tough Decisions

January 14, 2013

Members of the House of Representatives faced a daunting task when they began to craft their proposed two-year budget. In the weeks after the Senate voted on its budget, the revenue forecast for fiscal year 2009-10 (FY09-10) dropped by $1.35 billion. The House’s options for balancing the budget dropped further when Governor Beverly Perdue tapped […]

North Carolina Budget and Tax Center: The Estimated Impact of the Senate’s Proposed Modernization Plan

January 14, 2013

The Senate Finance Committee’s proposed tax modernization plan would require an additional 0.3% of income ($32 average annually) from the lowestincome earners, 0.1% of income ($32 average annually) from middle-income taxpayers and 0.1% of income ($958 average annually) from the highest 1% of income-earners. The plan would improve stability and long-term revenue adequacy, but additional […]

Louisiana Budget Project: Eliminating State Income Tax: Good for Whom?

January 14, 2013

Several bills introduced in the current regular legislative session would eliminate Louisiana’s state income tax, without mandating any replacement revenues. Adoption of any of these measures would be detrimental to the state’s future. Ending the state income tax would cause a reduction in many services provided by the state or to mitigate significant destabilization of […]

Connecticut Voices for Children: Fiddling While Rome Burns: Connecticut’s Multi-Million Dollar, Money Losing Subsidy to the Entertainment Industry

January 14, 2013

While intended to spark a home-grown entertainment industry in Connecticut, Connecticut Voices’ analysis of recently-released data from the Commission on Culture and Tourism shows that the tax credits have largely been subsidizing out-of-state personnel and businesses. Data in a spreadsheet provided to a General Assembly subcommittee looking at tax credits showed that only 11% of […]

North Carolina Budget and Tax Center: The Dead Tax Plan: Just How Regressive Would it Have Been?

January 14, 2013

The proposed $1 billion compromise tax plan released the week of July 20th featured a 1-cent sales tax increase and 2% personal income tax surcharge. This plan, if enacted, would have required three times more, as a share of income, of the state’s lowest-income families than of the state’s top 1% of income-earners. Read the […]

Kansas Action for Children: The Kansas Budget Gap: How Did it Happen and Who Gets Hurt?

January 14, 2013

As is the case in any state, Kansas revenue and budget circumstances vary from year to year depending on a number of factors, including the health of the economy, the cost of providing state services and unforeseen expenses due to natural disasters or litigation. However, the budget shortfalls seen in Kansas recently are the result […]

Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center: Keeping Score: More Pennsylvania Businesses are Losers Under the Single Sales Factor

January 14, 2013

Budget negotiators are considering adopting the Single Sales Factor (SSF)1, a targeted tax break promoted by a small group of Pennsylvania corporations. The SSF would cost the Pennsylvania Treasury around $100 million, when the state has a billion dollar deficit, and is facing large cuts in libraries, hospitals and services for children and vulnerable people. […]

New Mexico Voices for Children: Revenue Generators

January 14, 2013

The current debate over immigration – and particularly over immigrants without legal residency status – often centers on whether or not this group of people contributes to the economy or diminishes it. A 2006 Fiscal Policy Project report, “Undocumented Immigrants in New Mexico: State Tax Contributions and Fiscal Concerns,” concluded that undocumented immigrants contribute more […]