Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP)

Illinois

report  

State-by-State Tax Expenditure Reports

• By ITEP Staff

Below is a list of tax expenditure reports published in the states.

blog  

2026 Sessions in Review: States Move to Tax the Rich and Corporations

• By Aidan Davis

This year several states raised income tax rates on high-income people to fund crucial services and make progress toward remedying the regressive tilt of their tax codes.

blog  

State Rundown 6/25: Trending This Summer? New Revenue!

• By ITEP Staff

It's the first official week of summer, and while many of us are planning vacations, state lawmakers remain busy finalizing and debating tax proposals.

blog  

State Rundown 6/11: Taxing the Rich Heats Up

• By ITEP Staff

As we head into summer, many state legislatures are in the final stretches of their sessions. Rhode Island moved another step closer to joining the ranks of Washington, Maine, and Hawai’i in enacting a new high-income surcharge this year.

blog  

A Growing Number of States Are Taxing the Sale of Advertising

• By Nick Johnson

ITEP’s report on taxing advertising identifies some reasons why states are curtailing longstanding sales tax exemptions for the ad sector.

blog  

States Are Standing Up to the Monster Known as QSBS

• By Nick Johnson

We estimate that by 2032, QSBS will be costing states $1.1 billion a year, and since states must balance their budgets, that’s money they can’t use for public services.

blog  

States Can Raise Billions by Ending a Tax Giveaway to Big Tech

• By Nick Johnson

An advertising tax offers a way to raise significant money from a sector of the economy that has been getting a free ride for decades.

blog  

State Rundown 6/4: Fiscal Flowers and Weeds Bloom in June

• By ITEP Staff

A veritable superbloom of tax and budget policies occurred over these last few weeks, including both flowers worth admiring and weeds worth fighting back.

blog  

State Rundown 5/14: Fund Priorities or Increase Shortfalls?

• By ITEP Staff

As many legislative sessions end, lawmakers are revealing their priorities.

blog  

The Bears Bill Is Bad by Design. Here’s How.

• By Rita Jefferson, Amanda Kass, Kristan Wong Karinen

State lawmakers are debating whether to subsidize a new Chicago Bears stadium in Arlington Heights, but this bill creates a new statewide property tax cut program for large development projects.

blog  

State Rundown 4/30: Aloha to Tax Cuts, Hawaiʻi Lawmakers Address Revenue Gap with High-End Tax Changes

• By ITEP Staff

This week Hawaiʻi lawmakers reached a compromise to balance the state budget and maintain tax cuts for most residents by, in part, raising rates on the richest Hawaiians. Other states are working to generate revenue from their wealthiest residents, too.

blog  

State Rundown 4/23: While Some States Stop Digging, Others Move Full Steam Ahead with Anti-Affordability Agendas

• By ITEP Staff

Missouri lawmakers passed legislation that will have residents vote on a proposal at the ballot box. The ask: for them to pay more in sales taxes to offset cuts – and the possible elimination – of the state's individual income tax, which makes up nearly two-thirds of Missouri’s general fund.

blog  

State Rundown 4/16: Tax Day, a New Millionaires’ Tax and Late Blooming State Tax Action

• By ITEP Staff

Yesterday was Tax Day, and with many state legislative sessions wrapping, some tax changes are gearing up or crossing over the finish line.

State Tax Watch 2026

• By ITEP Staff

ITEP tracks tax discussions in legislatures across the country and uses our unique data capacity to analyze the revenue, distributional, and racial and ethnic impacts of many of these proposals. State Tax Watch offers the latest news and movement from each state.

blog  

State Rundown 3/18: New Mexico Enacts Most Significant Corporate Tax Reform of the Year

• By ITEP Staff

As states lawmakers continue to weigh their linkages to the federal tax code in light of the recent federal tax law, New Mexico provides a blueprint for limiting multinational corporate tax avoidance.

blog  

State Rundown 2/19: Necktie (NCTI) Offers a Way Out of a Knotty Situation

• By ITEP Staff

State lawmakers are grappling with a range of challenges as their fiscal outlooks deteriorate, federal tax enforcement wanes (after the Trump administration cut the IRS workforce by 25 percent), and a rewritten federal tax code sends states scrambling to decide what changes they might want to make in their own codes.

blog  

State Rundown 2/11: This Valentine’s Day, Conscious Decoupling Is Our Love Language

• By ITEP Staff

While some may be excited for a romantic Valentine’s Day this weekend, many state lawmakers are breaking up and decoupling from recent federal tax changes that are poised to leave states with revenue shortfalls – much like a bad date who forgets their wallet and asks you to pick up the tab.

blog  

What Did 2025 State Tax Changes Mean for Racial and Economic Equity?

• By Brakeyshia Samms

The results are a mixed bag, with some states enacting promising policies that will improve tax equity and others going in the opposite direction.

Testimony: ITEP’s Brakeyshia Samms Explains How Property Tax Circuit Breakers Could Help Evanston, Illinois

• By Brakeyshia Samms

The prepared testimony below was delivered by ITEP Senior Analyst Brakeyshia Samms to the Illinois Committee on Housing and Community on January 20, 2026.

blog  

States Can Push Back Against Reckless Federal Tax Policy. Here’s How.

• By Aidan Davis, Wesley Tharpe

They should take steps to protect and boost their own revenues. And they should take a second look at their own tax cuts.

blog  

Local Governments Are Increasingly Strapped: 2026 Will Bring New Challenges and New Opportunities

• By Kamolika Das

2025 saw an intensification of state and local tax fights across the country, as well as growing experimentation with local-option taxes, levies, fees, and tourism taxes aimed at keeping budgets afloat while also navigating political constraints imposed by state legislatures.

blog  

State Rundown 1/7: New Year, New Opportunities for Progressive Revenue

• By ITEP Staff

As we kick off a new year, several states are facing revenue shortfalls. Some lawmakers are approaching the challenge with sustainable and equitable solutions.

blog  

State Rundown 12/17: Tax Policy ‘Naughty or Nice’ List Has Late Entrants

• By ITEP Staff

With a little over a week left, some states are solidifying their spots on the tax policy “naughty or nice” list.

blog  

No, Scott Bessent: States Aren’t Taking Away Anyone’s Tax Cuts

• By Nick Johnson

It’s wildly inappropriate for a U.S. Treasury Secretary to lean on states to adopt or not adopt specific federal provisions in their own state tax codes.

blog  

State Rundown 12/3: Property Tax Cuts and Deficits

• By ITEP Staff

States are increasingly facing difficult choices as revenues stagnate and deficits come clearer into focus.