Louisiana
American Press: Where did Louisiana go wrong?
March 18, 2016
“Semuels talked with Carl Davis, the research director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. She said Davis told her state legislatures are making decisions about taxation that “don’t jive with the 21st-century economy.” Illinois is one of eight states with a flat income-tax rate. It was 5 percent, but was lowered to 3.75 […]
The Advocate: Local governments, businesses say consumers sour when sale taxes hit ‘double-digit ceiling’
March 7, 2016
“For a worker who earns between $19,000 and $37,000 a year, he or she will pay an average of $210 more dollars in sales tax dollars for a 1 percent sales tax increase, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. For someone who earns between $103,000 and $209,000 a year, the average tax […]
Undocumented Immigrants’ State & Local Tax Contributions (2016)
February 24, 2016 • By Lisa Christensen Gee, Meg Wiehe
This report was updated in March 2017 Read as a PDF. (Includes Full Appendix of State-by-State Data) Report Landing Page Public debates over federal immigration reform often suffer from insufficient and inaccurate information about the tax contributions of undocumented immigrants particularly at the state level. The truth is that undocumented immigrants living in the United […]
American Press: Lawmakers examine income tax
February 22, 2016
“Three identical measures would allow voters to decide whether they want to eliminate the federal income tax deduction that is allowed on state income tax forms. The deduction is in the constitution. The change would raise $748 million annually, and the vote to decide the issue would take place Nov. 8. Only three states — […]
Louisiana Budget Project: A stronger EITC can mitigate sales tax increase
February 3, 2016
The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) calculates that the poorest 40 percent of Louisiana households paid 10 percent of their family income in state and local taxes last year. The richest 1 percent of households paid only 4.2 percent of their total income in state and local taxes. The main reason for […]
Bayou Buzz: Governor Jon Bel Edwards transition report not serious for Louisiana budget hole
January 19, 2016
“Yet plenty of other material in its pages serves to covey the unserious nature of the effort. For example, in its discussion of tax reform, it exhorts any changes to make the system even more regressive than already – even though, according to a metric created by the leftist Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, […]
The U.S. Census Bureau released data in September showing that the share of Americans living in poverty remains high. In 2014, the national poverty rate was 14.8 percent - statistically unchanged from the previous year. However, the poverty rate remains 2.3 percentage points higher than it was in 2007, before the Great Recession, indicating that recent economic gains have not yet reached all households and that there is much room for improvement. The 2014 measure translates to more than 46.7 million - more than 1 in 7 - Americans living in poverty. Most state poverty rates also held steady between…
Slate: Don’t Fall for Back-to-School Tax Holidays
August 14, 2015
If shoppers are simply shifting their spending to save on taxes, that means the states are losing revenue. That’s certainly the position of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a nonpartisan think tank that estimates the popular break will cost the states offering it $300 million this year. “Revenues lost through sales tax holidays […]
CNBC: Tax-Free Shopping Ahead for These States
July 24, 2015
Research by the nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, however, contends that increased sales during the tax holidays “have been shown to be primarily the result of consumers’ shifting the timing of their planned purchases.” That organization estimates sales tax holidays will cost states $300 million in 2015. “A two- to three-day sales tax […]
The Times-Picayune: Why Aren’t the Governor’s Candidates Discussing Poverty?: Robert Mann
July 20, 2015
Speaking of inequality, it’s not bad enough just to be poor in Louisiana. You can also count on state and local governments taxing you twice as much as the wealthy. A 2013 study of states by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that Louisiana families earning less than $16,000 a year paid an […]
Vox: Bobby Jindal and Sam Brownback’s Ridiculous Tax Gimmicks, Explained
June 22, 2015
Brownback has been defiant. “Some would have you believe this bill represents a tax increase, and that is not accurate,” the governor said last week. “When looked at in totality, from 2012 to 2015, as I said at the outset, Kansans are paying less in taxes and continuing to move off income taxes to consumption-based […]
Georgia Budget and Policy Institute: Income Tax Cuts Won’t Boost Georgia Economy
May 7, 2015
Big income tax cuts did not improve the economies of states that enacted them, and states without income taxes do not consistently grow more jobs or have stronger economies. Six states cut income taxes sharply from 2002 to 2007, before the most recent recession. Three of them – Arizona, Ohio and Rhode Island – grew […]
The Bond Buyer: LSU Bond Deal Was Victim of State’s Woes
May 1, 2015
“The collapse of LSU’s bond offering mirrors a trend we’re seeing across the nation: state leaders are avoiding making tough budget decisions by pushing these decisions down to the local level,” Matt Gardner, Executive Director Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy told The Bond Buyer. “When state lawmakers seek to balance their budgets by cutting […]
Undocumented Immigrants’ State & Local Tax Contributions (2015)
April 15, 2015 • By Matthew Gardner, Meg Wiehe
This report was updated February 2016 Read as a PDF. (Includes Full Appendix of State-by-State Data) Report Landing Page In the public debates over federal immigration reform, sufficient and accurate information about the tax contributions of undocumented immigrants is often lacking. The reality is the 11.4 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States pay billions […]
The Advocate: With future of Louisiana higher education threatened, lawmakers sift through filed bills seeking deficit plug
April 13, 2015
The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a liberal nonprofit in Washington, D.C., reported in January that the poorest 20 percent of households in Louisiana pay an average of 10 percent of their income in state and local taxes, while the wealthiest 1 percent pay an average of 4.2 percent of their income in those […]
KNOE (CBS Louisiana Affiliate): Study Says Those Who Earn the Least Pay the Most
January 26, 2015
They say nothing in this life is as certain as death and taxes, and for some taxes mean death to a living wage. A recent study by The Institute of Taxation and Economic Policy says the lowest 40-percent of workers pay 10-percent of their income toward taxes, and the top 20-percent pay between 6.9 and […]
Louisiana Budget Project: Taxing the Poor
January 16, 2015
In less than three months, Louisiana legislators will convene for their annual session. It’s an odd-numbered year, which means it’s a two-month “fiscal” session that’s supposed to be focused on tax policy. But if predictions around the Capitol are to be believed, there is little reason to expect fundamental change to a tax structure that […]
The New Orleans Advocate: La.’s poor pay higher share in taxes, study shows
January 16, 2015
“Louisiana families with incomes below $32,000 per year — about 40 percent of the households — pay an average 10 percent rate in state and local taxes, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a Washington, D.C.-based group that researches the impact of tax policies. The state’s top 1 percent — families with […]
The Motley Fool: The 5 States with the Highest Sales Tax
August 20, 2014
By Jeremy Bowman: Nearly every state in the union charges a sales tax, and the tax levied on goods and services sold at the retail level is just one of many tools states use to collect revenue, along with licensing and taxes on income, corporations, and property. Sales taxes tend to attract less attention than […]
Daily World: Sales Tax Holiday Offers Chance to Save
August 1, 2014
By Mike Hasten “The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy has called Louisiana’s tax holiday “more hype than help.””
Louisiana Budget Project: Increasing EITC improves tax fairness, reduces poverty, invests in children
May 22, 2014
Efforts to modestly raise the minimum wage in Louisiana failed this legislative session — even though the wage isn’t high enough to keep a full-time worker with a child out of poverty. But some opponents of giving the lowest-paid workers a raise have suggested another pro-work, anti-poverty policy as an alternative: increasing the value of […]
Chicago Now: Pope Francis and a moral argument for immigration reform
April 14, 2014
(Original Post) By Teresa Puente, Sunday at 8:38 pm President Obama has failed to persuade the Republican controlled U.S. House of Representatives to pass immigration reform, but if anybody can make a moral argument it is Pope Francis. These two men who broke barriers, the first Latin American pope and the first African- American president, […]
Milwaukee Courier: Gov. Walker plans massive sales tax hike on the working class
January 22, 2014
(Original Post) 18 JANUARY 2014 Compiled by Courier Staff It’s no secret that Wisconsin is in poor economic shape. Recent numbers indicate that the state is 38th in private sector job growth in the last two years. Despite Governor Scott Walker’s insistence that his Tea Party reforms are working, families in Milwaukee and across the […]
Shreveport Times: Taxes – Where is Louisiana?
November 18, 2013
Nov. 15, 2013 Written by Tommy Williams Special to The Times Right now, inflation is not meeting expectations — and that may be a good thing. Critics of the prevailing monetary policy and low interest rates have predicted inflation will rise. Martin Feldstein, president of the National Bureau for Economic Research, explained in 2012 that […]
Governing: Is Earmarking the Best Way to Fund Projects?
September 30, 2013
(Original Post) It’s not black and white, but understanding the pros and cons increases your chances of coming to the right answer for a particular project. BY: KATHERINE BARRETT & RICHARD GREENE | OCTOBER 2013 There are many issues in government management where things aren’t black and white, where gray is the color of the […]
