Recent Work by ITEP

How Heavily Does Your State Rely on Property Taxes?

May 18, 2019 • By ITEP Staff

The property tax is the oldest major revenue source for state and local governments and remains an important mechanism for funding education and other local services. This map shows the share of state and local general revenue in each state that is raised through property taxes.

What is the Diesel Fuel Tax Rate in Your State?

May 18, 2019 • By ITEP Staff

The tax rates identified in this map include state and local excise and sales taxes on diesel fuel, as well as various fees, as calculated by the American Petroleum Institute (API). These taxes are levied in addition to the federal government’s 24.4-cent-per-gallon diesel tax.

How Heavily Does Your State Rely on Individual Income Taxes?

May 17, 2019 • By ITEP Staff

Income taxes vary considerably in their structure across states, though the best taxes are fine-tuned to taxpayers’ ability-to-pay.

Bootstraps Remain an Ineffective Tool for Combatting Poverty

May 17, 2019 • By Jenice Robinson

Policymakers and the public widely agree that economic inequality is the social policy problem of our age. It threatens the livelihoods of millions of children and adults, and it even threatens our democracy. Although some say Americans could fix it themselves by simply rolling up their sleeves, as a sub-headline in a March U.S. News and World Report column implied, the reality is different.

State Rundown 5/16: Tensions Remain High Over Budgets and School Finances in Several States

May 16, 2019 • By ITEP Staff

Tax and budget negotiations remain at standstills in Louisiana and Minnesota, as school funding debates and teacher protests again captured headlines in several states. Oregon lawmakers, for example, finally passed a mixed-bag tax package that won’t improve tax equity but will raise much-needed revenue for education. Meanwhile their counterparts in Nebraska continue to debate highly […]

How Heavily Does Your State Rely on Corporate Income Taxes?

May 12, 2019 • By ITEP Staff

Corporate income taxes are an important source of revenue for state governments and ensure that profitable corporations benefiting from public services pay toward the maintenance of those services.

Presentation: NCSL Task Force on State and Local Taxation, Taxing Cannabis

May 10, 2019 • By Carl Davis

ITEP Research Director Carl Davis presented to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) Task Force on State and Local Taxation on approaches to cannabis taxation and the recent report Taxing Cannabis.

State Rundown 5/9: Illinois Moves Closer to a Progressive Income Tax

May 9, 2019 • By ITEP Staff

Lawmakers in Illinois and Ohio have advanced major tax proposals but cannot rest just yet, as they must still get past the other legislative chamber. Their counterparts in Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Oregon, meanwhile, are all at impasses over education funding, as those in Texas left their school funding disagreement unresolved at least until they reconvene...in 2021. And in an era of many states pre-empting smaller jurisdictions by revoking local decision-making powers, leaders in Colorado and Delaware made moves in the opposite direction, entrusting cities and school districts with more local control.

Proponents of Trump Tax Law Cite ITEP with Obvious Lack of Context

May 6, 2019 • By Steve Wamhoff

Sen. Chuck Grassley, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, today has an op-ed defending Trump-GOP tax law. “One of the most-covered falsehoods being spread about tax reform,” as he calls the law, “is that it’s a middle-class tax hike.” He cites ITEP’s estimates to back up his point that most people in every income group have lower taxes because of the law. As Sen. Grassley and his staff know full well, this leaves out the important point of our findings.

State Rundown 5/1: Teacher Uprisings Continue on May Day

May 1, 2019 • By ITEP Staff

Teachers in North Carolina and South Carolina are walking out and rallying this week for increased education funding, teacher and staff pay, and other improvements to benefit students—if you’re unsure why be sure to check out research on the teacher shortage and pay gap under “What We’re Reading” below. Meanwhile, budget debates have recently wrapped up in Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Washington. And major tax debates are kicking into high gear in both Louisiana and Nebraska.