Nebraska
Preventing an Overload: How Property Tax Circuit Breakers Promote Housing Affordability
• By Brakeyshia Samms, Carl Davis
Circuit breaker credits are the most effective tool available to promote property tax affordability. These policies prevent a property tax “overload” by crediting back property taxes that go beyond a certain share of income. Circuit breakers intervene to ensure that property taxes do not swallow up an unreasonable portion of qualifying households’ budgets.
Extending Temporary Provisions of the 2017 Trump Tax Law: National and State-by-State Estimates
• By Joe Hughes, Matthew Gardner, Steve Wamhoff
The push by Congressional Republicans to make the provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanent would cost nearly $300 billion in the first year and deliver the bulk of the tax benefits to the wealthiest Americans.
State Rundown 4/27: Health, Wealth, and State Tax Policy
• By ITEP Staff
This week the importance of state tax policy is center stage once again...
State Rundown 4/12: Tax Day 2023 – A Good Reminder of the Impact of Our Collective Investments
• By ITEP Staff
With Tax Day quickly approaching it’s worth taking some time to reflect not just on tax forms (though those are important!), but also on the current state of state tax policy...
State Rundown 4/6: More SALT, Please
• By ITEP Staff
This week, a bill out of Arkansas that would cut the top personal income tax rate and the corporate income tax rate found its way to the governor’s desk...
OpenSky Policy Institute Webinar: Data Shows Child Tax Credits Benefit Hardworking Families
• By ITEP Staff
New evidence on child tax credits at the federal level has shown “stunning” results in lifting children out of poverty throughout the country and a state-level policy could continue that momentum, benefiting a broad range of families, panelists including ITEP State Policy Director Aidan Davis said in a February 8 webinar.
State Rundown 3/23: A Spring Awakening of Tax Proposals
• By ITEP Staff
As nature bursts into life and color with the arrival of spring, state tax proposals are doing the same as the legislative seeds planted by lawmakers earlier this year start to grow, blossom, and in some cases rot. However, some governors are not entirely happy with what state lawmakers have produced.
State Rundown 3/9: The Whirlwind 2023 Legislative Session Continues
• By ITEP Staff
State 2023 legislative sessions are proving to be eventful ones. With many states eager to make use of their budget surpluses, major tax changes are still being proposed and others signed into law. Michigan residents will soon see an increase to their state Earned Income Tax Credit (from 6 percent to 30 percent) after the […]
Lured by Promises of Financial Gain, Wealthy Families are Flocking to Voucher Tax Shelters and Eroding Public Education in the Process
• By ITEP Staff
Contact: Jon Whiten – jon@itep.org Lawmakers in several states are discussing enacting or expanding school voucher tax credits, which reimburse individuals and businesses for “donations” they make to organizations that give out vouchers for free or reduced tuition at private K-12 schools, as a new brief released today by the Institute on Taxation and Economic […]
Tax Avoidance Continues to Fuel School Privatization Efforts
• By Carl Davis
Wealthy families are overwhelmingly the ones using school voucher tax credits to opt out of paying for public education and other public services and to redirect their tax dollars to private and religious institutions instead. Most of these credits are being claimed by families with incomes over $200,000.
OpenSky Policy Institute: Policy Brief: Consumption Tax
• By ITEP Staff
The consumption tax proposal in LB 79 would require a rate of 22.1 percent to be revenue neutral, OpenSky analysis conducted with the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy finds. This rate is nearly three times greater than what is proposed in the bill. Further, OpenSky estimates that if the consumption tax were to be […]
State Rundown 2/9: We <3 Taxes
• By ITEP Staff
The great women’s philosopher, Pat Benatar, once said “love is a battlefield,” and there’s no greater test of our love for state tax policy than following the ups and downs of state legislative sessions...
State Rundown 2/1: February Brings New (and Some Old) Tax Policy Conversations
• By ITEP Staff
Tax bills across the U.S. are winding their way through state legislatures and governors continue to set the tone for this year’s legislative sessions...
State Rundown 1/26: Tax Season Brings With it Reminder of EITC’s Impact
• By ITEP Staff
Tax season has officially kicked off and with Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Awareness Day right around the corner, it serves as another reminder for how important the EITC is...
Yahoo News: Flat Income Taxes: Who Are the Biggest Winners and Losers?
January 25, 2023
From Kansas to Wisconsin to Nebraska, the conversation surrounding a flat tax has picked up as of late, with more state legislators pushing for as much. Read more.
Open Sky Policy Institute: Major Tax and Education Plans Would Quickly Drain Flush State Coffers
• By ITEP Staff
The cost of high-profile K-12 finance and tax packages introduced this week would entirely consume the projected $1.9 billion that lawmakers have to enact new legislation in the current two-year budget cycle and then some. Read more.
State Rundown 1/19: ITEP Provides a Roadmap for Equitable Tax Goals in 2023
• By ITEP Staff
State legislatures are buzzing as leaders and lawmakers jockey to advance their 2023 goals...
State Lawmakers Should Break the 2023 Tax Cut Fever Before It’s Too Late
• By Miles Trinidad
Despite mixed economic signals for 2023, including a possible recession, many state lawmakers plan to use temporary budget surpluses to forge ahead with permanent, regressive tax cuts that would disproportionately benefit the wealthy at the expense of low- and middle-income households. These cuts would put state finances in a precarious position and further erode public investments in education, transportation and health, all of which are crucial for creating inclusive, vibrant communities where everyone, not just…
Momentum Behind State Tax Credits for Workers and Families Continues in 2023
• By Miles Trinidad
Refundable tax credits are an important tool for improving family economic security and advancing racial equity, and there is incredible momentum heading into 2023 to boost two key state credits: the Child Tax Credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit.
Flat Taxes: ‘All Sizzle and No Steak’
• By ITEP Staff
While most states have a graduated rate income tax, some state lawmakers have recently become enamored with the idea of moving away from graduated rate personal income taxes and toward flat rate taxes instead. But flat taxes create problems for ordinary families and let the wealthy off the hook. When faced with a flat income […]
State Rundown 1/11: Governors Ready to Talk Tax in 2023 State Addresses
• By ITEP Staff
Governors have begun their annual trek to the podium in statehouses across the U.S. to lay out their visions for 2023, and so far, taxes look like they will play a major role in debates throughout state legislative sessions...
State Rundown 1/5: State Taxes Coming in Hot in New Year
• By ITEP Staff
The new year often brings with it new goals and a desire to take on complex problems with a fresh perspective. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always apply to state lawmakers when considering tax policy...
State Rundown 11/30: ‘Lame Duck’ December Could Have Major Tax Implications
• By ITEP Staff
As federal lawmakers begin their lame duck deliberations, the revival of the expanded child tax credit remains a strong possibility...
State Child Tax Credits and Child Poverty: A 50-State Analysis
• By Aidan Davis
Regardless of future Child Tax Credit developments at the federal level, state policies can supplement the federal credit to deliver additional benefits to children and families. State credits can be specifically tailored to meet the needs of local populations while also producing long-term benefits for society as a whole
State Rundown 11/10: Midterm Madness
• By ITEP Staff
As states continue to tally the remaining votes and the news stories roll out at a breakneck pace, the unofficial results of the 2022 midterm elections have brought with it significant changes across the state tax policy landscape...
