Maine
State Rundown 4/9: A Progressive Pushback
• By ITEP Staff
Residents and state lawmakers across the country are pushing back against anti-tax measures and are looking for ways to protect revenue and advance proposals that would raise revenue in progressive ways. This comes at a time when federal policy brings significant risks for state tax revenue.
State Rundown 4/3: Amidst Tariff Uncertainty, State Lawmakers Talk Taxes
• By ITEP Staff
While all eyes are on the Trump administration’s tariffs on foreign imports, state lawmakers are moving forward with a mix of deep, regressive tax cuts and progressive revenue raisers.
Maine Center for Economic Policy: Expanding the Dependent Exemption Tax Credit is an Investment in Maine’s Future
• By ITEP Staff
Maine’s Dependent Exemption Tax Credit (DETC) is a vital investment in the state’s future. As Maine’s version of the child tax credit, it helps families with children or dependent adults afford essentials like food, rent, and childcare, especially in rural areas.
State Rundown 3/20: It’s March, Welcome to Tax Policy Madness
• By ITEP Staff
March Madness kicks off today and the pressure is on as many states’ legislative sessions are nearing the final buzzer. Some state lawmakers are seemingly competing for the title of most regressive state tax policies while others are looking to lift up best practices for more equitable outcomes. The Mississippi legislature landed on a […]
State Rundown 3/12: Last-Minute Tax Cut Mayhem and New Progressive Revenue Raisers
• By ITEP Staff
A bevy of tax cut proposals sprung to life this week while others were signed into law. In Kentucky, lawmakers are working to make it easier for the legislature to enact income and business tax cuts. The governor in Idaho signed into law a personal and corporate income tax cut.
Sarah Austin
• By ITEP Staff
Sarah is a Senior Analyst at ITEP. She focuses her research on progressive revenue-raising options for states. Before joining ITEP in 2025, Sarah served as senior policy advisor to the Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives. Prior to that, she served as the research and policy director at the Maine Center for Economic Policy […]
Maine Center for Economic Policy: Proposed Medicaid Cuts Put Maine Families’ Incomes At Risk
• By ITEP Staff
Proposed Medicaid cuts could affect over 400,000 Mainers, especially children, older adults, and families with low income, reducing access to essential health care and economic stability. Read more.
Wide-Ranging 2025 State Tax Debates Come into Focus
• By Aidan Davis
In the face of immense uncertainty around looming federal tax and budget decisions, many of which could threaten state budgets, state lawmakers have an opportunity to show up for their constituents by raising and protecting the revenue needed to fund shared priorities. Lawmakers have a choice: advance tax policies that improve equity and help communities thrive, or push tax policies that disproportionately benefit the wealthy, drain funding for critical public services, and make it harder…
A Revenue Analysis of Worldwide Combined Reporting in the States
• By Carl Davis, Matthew Gardner, Michael Mazerov
Universal adoption of mandatory worldwide combined reporting would boost state corporate income tax revenues by roughly 14 percent. Thirty-eight states and the District of Columbia would experience revenue increases totaling $19.1 billion.
Turning IRS Agents to Deportation Will Reduce Public Revenues
• By Carl Davis, Jon Whiten
The Trump Administration’s plan to turn IRS agents into deportation agents will result in lower tax collections in addition to the harm done to the families and communities directly affected by deportations.
The (Mostly Untapped) Power of Local Income Taxes
• By Rita Jefferson
Local income taxes can be an important progressive revenue raiser, as they ask more of higher-income households and are connected to ability to pay. They can raise substantial revenue to fund key public services to make cities and regions better off.
State Rundown 1/30: The Revenue Decrease is in the Details
• By ITEP Staff
More details on this year’s batch of major tax proposals are emerging from statehouses - and some revenue cuts look like they could be steep. A governor-backed and House-passed plan in Mississippi would phase out the personal income tax, while a recent tax cut proposal out of Idaho is anchored by a $253 million dollar income tax cut.
State Rundown 1/15: Tax Debates Heat Up Despite Winter Weather
• By ITEP Staff
While frigid temperatures expected across a large swath of the country, major tax proposals are heating up in the states. Governors are giving their State of the State addresses and state lawmakers have begun to convene for 2025. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced plans to expand the state’s Child Tax Credit earlier this year and has since announced nearly $1 billion in income tax cuts. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore unveiled a new tax proposal…
State Rundown 1/9: New Year, New Pushes for Tax Policy Changes
• By ITEP Staff
It’s a new year, and state legislatures across the country are resolved to write new tax policy. Tax debates are heating up nearly everywhere in the early days of 2025, but states’ fiscal situations vary dramatically. New York is considering expanding the state’s Child Tax Credit following Gov. Hochul’s proposed expansion. On the other side […]
Trump’s Plan to Extend His 2017 Tax Provisions: Updated National and State-by-State Estimates
• By Steve Wamhoff
Trump’s plan to make most of the temporary provisions of his 2017 tax law permanent would disproportionately benefit the richest Americans. This includes all major provisions except the $10,000 cap on deductions for state and local taxes (SALT) paid.
Extending Temporary Provisions of the 2017 Trump Tax Law: Updated National and State-by-State Estimates
• By Steve Wamhoff
The TCJA Permanency Act would make permanent the provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 that are set to expire at the end of 2025. The legislation would disproportionately benefit the richest Americans. Below are graphics for each state that show the effects of making TCJA permanent across income groups. See ITEP’s […]
State Earned Income Tax Credits Support Families and Workers in 2024
• By Neva Butkus
Nearly two-thirds of states (31 plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico) have an Earned Income Tax Credit. These credits boost low-paid workers’ incomes and offset some of the taxes they pay, helping lower-income families achieve greater economic security.
State Child Tax Credits Boosted Financial Security for Families and Children in 2024
• By Neva Butkus
Fifteen states plus the District of Columbia provide Child Tax Credits to reduce poverty, boost economic security, and invest in children. This year alone, lawmakers in three states – Colorado, New York, and Utah – expanded their Child Tax Credits while lawmakers in the District of Columbia created a new credit that will take effect in 2025.
Local Tax Trends in 2024
• By Kamolika Das
Many cities, counties, and townships across the country are in a difficult, or at least unstable, budgetary position. Localities are responding to these financial pressures in a variety of ways with some charging ahead with enacting innovative reforms like short-term rental and vacancy taxes, and others setting up local tax commissions to study the problem.
Video: ITEP’s Marco Guzman on the Tax Contribution of Maine’s Undocumented Immigrants
July 31, 2024
A new national study is shedding light on the economic contributions made by undocumented immigrants in Maine and throughout the United States, WMTW-TV in Maine reports. Watch the clip or read the story here.
Tax Payments by Undocumented Immigrants
• By ITEP Staff
Undocumented immigrants paid $96.7 billion in federal, state, and local taxes in 2022. Providing access to work authorization for undocumented immigrants would increase their tax contributions both because their wages would rise and because their rates of tax compliance would increase.
Improving Refundable Tax Credits by Making Them Immigrant-Inclusive
• By Emma Sifre, Marco Guzman
Undocumented immigrants who work and pay taxes but don't have a valid Social Security number for either themselves or their children are excluded from federal EITC and CTC benefits. Fortunately, several states have stepped in to ensure undocumented immigrants are not left behind by the gaps in the federal EITC and CTC. State lawmakers should continue to ensure that immigrants who are otherwise eligible for these tax credits receive them.
Property Tax Circuit Breakers Can Help States Create More Equitable Tax Codes
• By Brakeyshia Samms
Well-designed property tax circuit breaker programs allow states to reduce the impact that property taxes have on the upside-down tilt of their tax codes.
Iowa Flat Tax Shows Why Such Policies Are a Problem Everywhere
• By Eli Byerly-Duke
As Iowa lawmakers change the state’s graduated personal income tax to a single flat rate, they are designing a state tax code where the rich will pay a lower rate overall than families with modest means.
State Rundown 5/2: Vetoes and New Major Tax Proposals
• By ITEP Staff
This week, many states took steps toward enacting tax cuts...
