Oregon

National Sausage Month isn’t until October, but now is the time of year when state lawmakers are really diving into their sausage-making processes, as separate legislative houses and oftentimes political parties send competing bills, budgets, and visions back and forth to grind out their differences.

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.

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.

Despite wintry conditions across much of the country, that hasn’t stopped state lawmakers from debating major tax policy changes.

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.

As state legislative sessions ramp up across the country, property taxes are one of many issues dominating tax policy conversations in statehouses.

State governors are beginning to lay out their top priorities as legislatures reconvene in statehouses around the country.

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

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

State deductions for tips and overtime are not only ineffective at supporting working-class people, it will come at a substantial cost to state budgets.

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

Lawmakers in two more states have wisely said “no thank you” to federal tax cuts that would have flowed through to their state tax codes and undermined funding for their priorities

The 2025 federal tax law risks making 529 plans more costly for states by increasing tax avoidance and allowing wealthy families to use these funds for private and religious K-12 schools.

Revenue forecasts look increasingly grim as states anticipate shortfalls due to the slowing economy and impacts of the new federal tax law.

Despite being an off-year election, voters made a call for shared public investments at the polls.

This webinar focused on the ways the new tax law could impact state revenues by changing policies that state lawmakers will soon consider mirroring in their own income tax codes.

State and local officials are staying very busy by considering a dizzying amount of reversals.

The IRS's capacity to prevent big multinational corporations from avoiding income taxes is facing a generational crisis.

Some states are trying to avoid revenue loss while others are welcoming it and doubling down.

Nearly two-thirds of states now have an Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Momentum continues to build on these credits that boost low-paid workers’ incomes and offset some of the taxes they pay, helping lower-income families achieve greater economic security.

Child Tax Credits (CTCs) are effective tools to bolster the economic security of low- and middle-income families and position the next generation for success.

Despite an increasingly bleak state revenue outlook, state lawmakers across the country continue to prioritize regressive tax cuts.