Citations

State of the Dream 2026: From Regression to Signs of a Black Recession is the product of a collaborative effort drawing on the expertise of Joint Center staff, fellows, and trusted external partners. Contributors include colleagues from United for a Fair Economy, the Center for Economic Policy Research, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, and the Onyx […]

Without sustainable and equitable revenue sources, incoming governor Mikie Sherrill is inheriting a state budget full of fiscal threats. Read more.

Washington ranks next to last for fairness and equality in our tax system — meaning those who make the least pay much larger shares of their income than those with the most resources. Washington families whose income is in the bottom 20% pay 13.8% of their total income in taxes, while those whose income is […]

Kentucky’s legislative leaders have made reducing the state’s individual income tax rate their top priority in recent years. Lawmakers have repeatedly acted on that, reducing the rate several times and costing the state billions annually that could have been invested in kids and families. Read more.

In many ways, 2025 has been a year like no other. Federal actions affecting the state have been fast and furious: freezing grants, eliminating housing supports, withholding or slashing food benefits and heating assistance, decimating healthcare access both by cutting Medicaid and ending enhanced insurance premium tax credits. All of this adds up to hundreds of […]

The New Year will bring little certainty to everyday North Carolinians.  State legislators have failed to use the policy tools available to them to address rising costs for the basics, from food to child-care to housing. Read more.

Policy gimmicks in HR 1 disguise its true nature as a huge tax giveaway to the ultra-wealthy and big corporations — Maine should not compromise the future well-being of its residents to give tax breaks to the rich. Read more.

The income groups paying the highest tax rates in Texas are disproportionately Hispanic and Black, whereas the lowest-taxed group (the wealthiest 5%) is predominantly white. Read more.

This November, the DC Council significantly increased economic security for approximately 78,000 children and their families through legislation that restores the District’s Child Tax Credit (CTC) and strengthens the DC Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Read more.

The Kentucky General Assembly will perform its most important job — crafting a two-year state budget that funds education, health, social services and other critical needs. But unlike recent years, when pandemic-era stimulus created robust revenue growth, lawmakers are now facing a serious budget crunch due to the loss of federal funds, a weakening economy […]

Evidence suggests the 2021 temporary Child Tax Credit expansion reduced material hardship and improved parental mental health. This expansion was also associated with improvements in child behavioral health. Read more.

This article provides a brief history of the capital gains preference, examines statistical income and wealth disparities based on gender and race, and proposes solutions to reduce the negative impact of the capital gains preference that leaves behind women and persons of color. Read more.

Billionaire corporations have engaged in a lobbying blitz with the Treasury to obtain a retroactive R&E carveout from the Corporate Alternative Minimum Tax. Lawmakers are urging the Treasury not to further rig the tax code in favor of billionaire corporations. Read more.