Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP)

Citations

6,242 posts

California Budget Project: Who Pays Taxes in California?

• By ITEP Staff

Former Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes once noted that, “Taxes are what we pay for civilized society.” State and local taxes support our public schools, streets and highways, public hospitals that form the backbone of the state’s trauma care system, parks and beaches, the public health infrastructure that ensures that our food is safe […]

Policy Matters Ohio: Testimony to the House Finance and Appropriations Committee on Substitute House Bill 153

• By ITEP Staff

We remain concerned with House Bill 153 and the numerous and drastic cuts that it makes to education, local governments and a wide range of public services. While the committee has restored funding for some important services, others have been reduced. This will be a zero sum game unless the General Assembly takes the necessary […]

North Dakota Economic Policy Project: Revised Analysis of 2011 Individual Income Tax Reductions

• By ITEP Staff

“North Dakota Legislators passed nearly a half billion dollars in tax cuts, reductions and exemptions this session. Some of those tax breaks may have been warranted, but they should have been targeted primarily to North Dakotans working to sustain or achieve a middle class life. One tax cut passed by the 2011 Legislature reduced the […]

Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada: Bridging the Gap: Building a Sound Tax System for the Silver State

• By ITEP Staff

With such a deficient, upside-down structure, it is no accident that Nevada, a state blessed with great natural and financial resources, has in fifteen years slipped from 7th to 14th in per capita income among all states (and from 17th to 20th in median household income), or that it currently has the nation’s highest unemployment […]

Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center: Facts At A Glance – The Income Tax: Another Reform Option

• By ITEP Staff

Previous MassBudget fact sheets have examined the Massachusetts personal income tax and a number of reform options (see “Facts At A Glance: The Income Tax”, available at http://www.massbudget.org/768). This Facts At A Glance examines another reform option (currently before the Legislature) that would make changes to the way the Commonwealth taxes wage and salary income […]

Campaign for Our Communities: Support Public Education and Other Vital Services!

• By ITEP Staff

“We need to invest in our communities and keep middle-class families working and earning! An Act to Invest in Our Communities – HB 2553 / SB 1416 – does just that. This bill takes a balanced approach to the fiscal crisis by raising revenue to maintain the services we need and value. By asking more […]

Kentucky Center for Economic Policy: Extending Federal Tax Cuts Would Double the Deficit for the Benefit of the Wealthiest

• By ITEP Staff

Ten years ago, large federal tax cuts were signed into law by President Bush. Those cuts are now set to expire at the end of 2012. Extending them beyond that date would almost double the size of the federal budget deficit, and in Kentucky close to half of the tax cuts from an extension would […]

Kentucky Center for Economic Policy: 2011 Revenue Results a Reminder of Importance of State Income Taxes

• By ITEP Staff

The $166 million in state revenues above projections for the fiscal year that just ended are helping prevent additional cuts to critical state services. They are also a reminder of the advantages of a broad-based tax system and in particular the importance of Kentucky’s individual and corporate income taxes. Read the Full Report (PDF)

Connecticut Voices for Children: After 2011 Tax Reforms, Connecticut’s Wealthy Still Pay Smallest Share of Income in State and Local Taxes

• By ITEP Staff

Despite recent efforts to make the Connecticut tax system fairer, the wealthiest 1% of our residents will still pay only half as much of their income in state and local taxes as the poor and middle class, according to a new analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. The state and local tax […]

Connecticut Voices for Children: Benchmarking Connecticut

• By ITEP Staff

As Connecticut works towards a plan for economic growth and job creation, it is essential that we understand our strengths and weaknesses. This brief fact sheet outlines several indicators — “benchmarks — that should inform our policy discussion about jobs, economic competitiveness, and shared prosperity for all Connecticut families. Read the Full Report (PDF)

Washington State Budget & Policy Center: A Capital Reform

• By ITEP Staff

To create jobs, spur long-term economic growth, and foster prosperity, Washington state desperately needs to rebuild its eroding education, public health, and community safety infrastructure. Our state has a powerful, but untapped resource to accomplish this: capital gains. A modest tax on some capital gains would help fuel economic recovery and opportunity for future generations […]

Bloomberg/BNA: Virginia Transportation Proposal Signals Shift in National Funding Conversation

January 10, 2013

Original Post (by subscription only) January 10, 2013 by Heather Caygle Key Development: Va. Gov. Bob McDonnell proposes eliminating state’s gas tax and using additional dedicated sales tax revenue to fund transportation programs. Next Steps: Federal and state governments will examine funding solutions for surface transportation programs in 2013. A recent proposal by Virginia Gov. […]

Fiscal Policy Institute: The Tax Shift

• By ITEP Staff

New York State is at a crossroads. Our tax structure is scheduled to change in a way that will render state revenues inadequate for the budget years ahead. Hundreds of thousands of households struggle to pay property tax bills that represent an inordinate share of their incomes. And, in the aftermath of the Great Recession, […]

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Wisconsin’s tax burden gets lighter but not for all

January 8, 2013

(PDF of Original Post) By Dave Umhoefer of the Journal SentinelPosted: April 12, 2010 | At the end of last year, one Midwestern state emerged carrying its lightest total tax burden since the early 1960s. Only six states nationwide saw a bigger drop in the percentage of taxpayer income taken for government spending over an […]

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Tax reform should aim for greater tax fairness

January 8, 2013

(PDF of Original Post) By Jon PeacockOct. 2, 2010 The income gap between the richest and poorest Americans grew wider than ever last year, according to new data from the Census Bureau. That finding strengthens our conviction that the state and federal tax systems should not be tilted in favor of the wealthiest Americans. At […]

Wisconsin Budget Project: Will Recent Changes to Capital Gains Tax Be Rolled Back?

January 8, 2013

(PDF of Original Post) Tuesday, January 11, 2011 As policymakers contemplate how to create jobs in Wisconsin and how to finance state services and local aid, they might want to take a look at A Capital Idea: Repealing State Tax Breaks for Capital Gains Would Ease Budget Woes and Improve Tax Fairness, a new report […]

Labor Notes: New Voice in Wisconsin Protests: No Concessions, No Cuts

January 8, 2013

(PDF of Original Post) Colette Brown| March 2, 2011 With the largest protests in Wisconsin history unfolding, labor activists are drawing on a new sense of power to reject both their union leaders’ concessions and the massive service cuts the governor proposes. A day after 100,000 people demonstrated in Madison—one of the largest protests in […]

American Prospect: Ryan Visits Racine

January 8, 2013

(PDF of Original Post) Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan visits one of the most economically depressed towns in Wisconsin, and residents there let him know what they think of his budget plan. Roger Bybee | April 30, 2011 | House Budget Chair Paul Ryan, of Wisconsin, who earlier this month introduced a budget plan that would […]

Lewiston Morning Tribune: Slapped Down

January 8, 2013

(PDF of Original Post) LEWISTON MORNING TRIBUNE, IDAHO | Fri, Mar 12, 11:16 AM Mar. 12–CHEERS … to Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire. When Idaho Gov. C.L. (Butch) Otter ridiculed the Evergreen State’s refusal to gut every last program in the name of avoiding any and all tax increases, Gregoire slapped him down. With good cause. […]

Olympia Newswire: Tax Relief Without Budget Cuts?- New Report Details How WA Taxpayers Could Save Hundreds of Millions

January 8, 2013

(PDF of Original Post) By Trevor Griffey • on April 15, 2010 Washington state taxpayers are paying hundreds of millions more in taxes than they need to, according to a new study from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy and United for a Fair Economy. The report, “Leaving Money on the Table,” which was […]

The Seattle Times: Initiative 1077 would make state taxes fairer and create opportunity

January 8, 2013

(PDF of Original Post) By Bill Gates SrSpecial to The Times THIS year, a typical middle-class family in our state will pay more than 11 percent of its hard-earned income in state and local taxes. Poor families will pay at an even higher rate. Hundreds of thousands of small businesses, already struggling in the current […]

The Seattle Examiner: A fix to Washington’s broken revenue system

January 8, 2013

(PDF of Original Post) May 24, 7:42 PM · Russ Lehman – Seattle Public Policy Examiner Examiner 5/24/10 There’s a proposed state initiative out getting signatures right now striving to qualify for the fall ballot. The measure, I-1098, is intended to, as the sponsors say, “make our tax code more fair”. Bill Gates, Sr., the […]

The News Tribune: Ballot measure gives us chance to fix budget for good

January 8, 2013

(PDF of Original Post) KATIE BAIRD Last updated: August 15th, 2010 12:02 PM (PDT) Should we be upset that Congress has just promised Washington an extra $526 million? Not I nor, I think, will others whose kids go to our public schools, who use Medicaid for health insurance or have a parent in a nursing […]

The Olympian: Piecemeal tax approach doesn’t go far enough to fix system

January 8, 2013

(PDF of Original Post) THE OLYMPIAN Ten years ago Bill Gates Sr., father of Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Jr., headed an independent commission that recommended an income tax for Washington state. That study has rested on some shelf gathering dust for the last decade. Lawmakers have ignored it in the belief that an income tax […]

McClatchy Washington Bureau: One rich guy who wants to pay higher taxes: Bill Gates Sr.

January 8, 2013

(PDF of Original Post) Brad Shannon | Tacoma News Tribune last updated: January 18, 2011 07:24:02 PM Bill Gates Sr., the retired lawyer and wealthy father of the Microsoft co-founder, thinks Washington state’s tax system is out of whack and needs repair. The poor pay too much tax, the rich pay too little, Gates says. […]