Select Media Mentions
Boston Globe: Tax the Roads, Not Fuel
June 2, 2014
By Jeff Jacoby, June 2, 2014 For decades, gasoline taxes have been the largest source of funds for building and fixing America’s highways. What happens if those funds dry up? Gasoline sales have been trending downward in recent years, thanks in part to more fuel-efficient cars, which travel farther and farther between fill-ups. That trend […]
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Ten Good Reason to Vote against the Transportation Sales Tax
June 2, 2014
By the Editorial Board, May 31, 2014 It has been said of this editorial page that we’ve never met a tax increase we didn’t like. That’s not entirely true, but it’s close. We tend to favor fair taxes used in the common good for vital public services. But now we’ve studied the three-quarter-cent state sales […]
The Christian Science Monitor: Hurricane Season Is Here, and Preparation Is Tax-Free
June 2, 2014
By Renu Zaretsky, June 2, 2014 Hurricane season began yesterday, and millionaires or not, Floridians can purchase hurricane supplies sales-tax free until June 8. Eligible items include ice packs, flashlights, portable radios, portable generators, Tiki torches, and certain batteries (AAs are tax-free, AAAs are not). Sales tax holidays grew more popular as states carried budget surpluses: They were seen as a way […]
Vice: What Replaces the Gas Tax Once Electric Cars Replace Gas
May 30, 2014
By Ben Richmond, May 28, 2014 As we move to replace gasoline, the states are looking at how they’re going to replace revenue collected via the gas tax. They’re caught in a balancing act, between penalizing people driving electric vehicles and maintaining their roads and bridges. You can be forgiven for thinking that cars becoming […]
Bloomberg BNA: Extras on Excise, Running out of Gas
May 30, 2014
By Rebecca Helmes, May 28, 2014 New Hampshire drivers will soon pay more per gallon in gas tax, and in return their Interstate 93 widening project will be funded, along with other highway projects. On the heels of several states’ gas tax increases in 2013, the Granite State is the first this year to enact […]
Progressive Pulse: How the Senate Pays for Its 2015 Budget Proposal
May 30, 2014
By Tazra Mitchell, May 30, 2014 On Wednesday evening, the North Carolina Senate unveiled its $21.16 billion budget proposal for the 2015 fiscal year that begins in June 2014 and ends in July 2015. The Senate leadership decided to put the budget on a fast track to approval, bypassing the appropriations subcommittee process and scheduling […]
Ohio Watchdog: Is Sales Tax Holiday Good or Bad for Ohio
May 30, 2014
By Maggie Thurber, May 30, 2014 Ohio is once again considering an August sales tax holiday for schools supplies and equipment, but two tax groups think it’s a bad deal for taxpayers. House Bill 450 would provide a three-day “holiday” each August. Sales and use taxes would not be charged on back-to-school clothing, school supplies, personal […]
Deleware NewsZap: Gas Tax-Is it Still Happening?
May 27, 2014
According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a nonpartisan think-tank, the challenge with state gas taxes is its unsustainability, as it relates to vehicle fuel efficiency and the rising cost of building infrastructure.
Bloomberg: How Gasoline-Use Drop May Raise Taxes in Deleware
May 27, 2014
Fuel-efficiency gains, inflation and higher construction costs have eroded the ability of state gasoline taxes to keep pace with needs, said Carl Davis, an analyst at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a Washington-based research group.
The Columbus Dispatch: State GOP Tax Cut Would Increase Income Inequality
May 27, 2014
An analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a Washington D.C. nonprofit, showed that the moves designed to help Ohioans beyond the top income brackets - the higher personal exemptions and earned income tax expansion - would generate only very modest savings for middle-income Ohioans and almost nothing for the poorest Ohioans
The Des Moines Register: Road Construction Running out of Gas?
May 27, 2014
By Editorial Board, May 25, 2014 Iowans on the road this Memorial Day weekend will likely encounter some traffic delays. It’s that time of the year when work gets underway on the state’s highways and bridges. The Iowa Department of Transportation is already looking down the road to $2.7 billion in major highway construction projects […]
Detroit Free Press: Why Michiganders Pay Among the Highest Gas Tax to Drive on Crummy Roads
May 23, 2014
By Paul Egan, May 23, 2014 High fuel taxes and low spending on roads. It’s a nasty combination, but Michigan motorists can rightfully complain they pay some of the highest fuel taxes to drive on some of the lousiest roads. According to national data, Michigan has the sixth-highest state taxes on gasoline but one of […]
The Star Ledger: NJ Millionaires Tax Could Help Plug Budget Hole
May 22, 2014
By Star-Ledger Editorial Board, May 20, 2014 Gov. Chris Christie has promised to announce a plan this week to put our state budget on life support. He’s suggested he will do whatever it takes — politics be damned — to close the $807 million hole we are facing: “Everything is on the table to balance […]
East Bay Express: Health Care for All?
May 21, 2014
Undocumented Californians also paid about $2.7 billion in taxes, including property, sales, and income taxes, in 2010, according to the most recent annual estimate available from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. "There's this misconception that undocumented people are 'takers' -- that they're benefiting from public benefits but not contributing," said Daniel Zingale, senior vice president of The California Endowment, which has embarked on a multimillion-dollar campaign -- also named "Health for All" -- to raise awareness about undocumented people and their inability to access health care.
The Daily Review: An Overlooked Source of Revenue
May 19, 2014
“Editorial, May 18, 2014 Faced with growing budget deficit partially of its own making, the Corbett administration likely will retreat from its previously planned 3.7 percent increase in state spending this election year and move instead to cut about $800 million from its tentative budget proposal. It’s not yet known whether that will mean a […]
Transportation Topics: Gas Tax Buying Power at All-Time Low in Some States
May 19, 2014
By Michael Fuetsch, May 19, 2014 The gasoline tax is so low and has not been raised for so long in 10 states, that the levy’s purchasing power has fallen to historic lows, a new study said. States where this has occurred are Alabama, Alaska, Delaware, Idaho, Iowa, Nebraska, New Jersey, South Carolina, Utah, and […]
The Star-Ledger: NJ’s Gas Tax Cut in Half When Adjusted for Inflation
May 19, 2014
By Alex Napoliello, May 19, 2014 New Jersey’s gas tax is at an all-time low. That may not be a surprise for those who have been following a recent proposal to raise the tax. But what may be a shock is that the state’s gas tax is almost half of what it was in 1927. […]
The Gazette: Iowa Ranks Low for Keeping up with Gas Tax
May 19, 2014
By B.A. Morellie, May 19, 2014 A new report shows Iowa is one of 10 states where the gas tax, when considering inflation, is at a historic low. The report was critical of falling behind on the gas tax, saying the tax supports roads and transportation infrastructure, and many states are falling behind. “This isn’t […]
Des Moines Register: Iowa Fuel Tax Hits Low
May 12, 2014
By Jason Noble, May 10, 2014 “Iowa is one of 10 states in which fuel taxes have hit an inflation-adjusted “all-time low,” according to a report issued last week by a Washington think tank. The state’s current 19 cents per gallon tax on fuel has been in place since 1989. Inflation over that time, though, […]
Politico: What’s Happening in the States?
May 12, 2014
(Original Post) Morning Tax, May 9, 2014 The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy has a new report that finds that ten states have record-low gas tax rates when inflation is factored in. The South Carolina gas tax, for example, has been at 16 cents a gallon for more than a quarter-century, even longer than […]
Reflejos: Undocument Immigrants Contribute Billions in Taxes
May 12, 2014
Editorial, May 11, 2014 Death and taxes, according to Benjamin Franklin, are the only things in life that are certain. And despite the prevailing myth perpetrated by nativist groups, there are plenty of undocumented immigrants facing the certainty of taxes every single year. … One way that undocumented immigrants already pay taxes is through […]
Politico: What’s Next for That Ca. CEO Pay Bill?
May 12, 2014
Morning Tax, May 12, 2014 Matthew Gardner, the executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said while the bill highlights “two vital problems we ought to fix — excessive CEO pay and underpayment of corporate taxes,” if it did somehow pass, it’s easy to picture what would happen next in offices across […]
The Baltimore Sun: The Tax They’re Not Talking About
May 12, 2014
By the Editorial Board, May 12, 2014 With varying degrees of aggressiveness and specificity, all seven candidates for governor are pledging to change Maryland’s tax code. The ideas range from eliminating the income tax altogether (Republicans David Craig and Charles Lollar) to raising taxes on millionaires and multi-state corporations to pay for cuts for small […]
Washington Post: Inflation, Not Efficiency Is Eroding the State Highway Trust Fund
May 7, 2014
The article misdiagnosed the cause of the looming shortfall in the Highway Trust Fund when it stated that the fund "relies on the 18.4-cent federal gas tax, which has eroded steadily as vehicles have become more energy efficient.
The Times-Tribune: Money Hides in Plain Sight
May 5, 2014
(Original Post) Editorial Board, The Scranton Times Tribune, May 4, 2014 Faced with growing budget deficit partially of its own making, the Corbett administration likely will retreat from its previously planned 3.7 percent increase in state spending this election year and move instead to cut about $800 million from its tentative budget proposal. It’s not […]
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