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June 15, 2017
Which States Benefit from the Tax Cuts in the GOP Health Plan?
Congressional Republicans’ plans to repeal the two largest tax increases on individuals that were enacted as part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) would disproportionately benefit residents of Connecticut, New York, the District of Columbia and 10 other states. The remaining states would receive a share of the tax cuts that is less than their share of the total U.S. population.
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June 14, 2017
State Rundown 6/14: Some States Wrapping Up Tax Debates, Others Looking Ahead to Next Round
This week lawmakers in California and Nevada resolved significant tax debates, while budget and tax wrangling continued in West Virginia, and structural revenue shortfalls were revealed in Iowa and Pennsylvania. Airbnb increased the number of states in which it collects state-level taxes to 21. We also share interesting reads on state fiscal uncertainty, the tax experiences of Alaska and Wyoming, the future of taxing robots, and more!
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June 13, 2017
How to Recover from A Failed Tax Experiment: Part 1
Gov. Sam Brownback’s tax experiment in Kansas was a failure.
His radical tax cuts for the rich eventually had to be partly paid for through tax hikes on low- and middle-income families and also failed to deliver on promises of economic growth. Meanwhile, the tax cuts decimated the state’s budget, diminished its credit rating, and compromised its ability to meet the state’s constitutional standard of adequacy for public education.
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June 12, 2017
The Best Way to Radically Simplify Tax Filing
One of the supposed selling points of the House GOP’s “Better Way” tax plan is that it will make the tax system so simple that you could do your taxes on a postcard. The reality, however, is that their promised postcard is a deception that would require numerous additional pages of worksheets to fill out. A better solution to making tax preparation simpler is called “return-free filing.” It does not just reduce your work to filling out a postcard, it could eliminate it altogether.
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blog
June 8, 2017
Kansas May Have Saved Us All
Sitting in the National Museum of American History in Washington, DC, hidden in the jumble of Americana like Thomas Jefferson’s desk, Michelle Obama’s inaugural gown and the ruby slippers worn in the Wizard of Oz, is a napkin with a drawing on it. Probably one of the least known exhibits in the museum, this napkin, quietly hiding behind glass lest some child wandering from a school group wipe his nose on it, has on several occasions destroyed the finances of the federal government and several state governments, most recently in Kansas.
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June 7, 2017
State Rundown 6/7: Kansas Success Story and Other State News
This week, we celebrate a victory in Kansas where lawmakers rolled back Brownback’s tax cuts for the richest taxpayers. Governors in West Virginia and Alaska promote compromise tax plans. Texas heads into special session and Vermont faces another budget veto, while Louisiana and New Mexico are on the verge of wrapping up. Voters in Massachusetts may soon be able to weigh in on a millionaire’s tax, the California Senate passed single-payer health care, and more!
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June 2, 2017
Oklahoma’s Budget Signed by Governor, but Long-Run Challenges Remain
On the last day of their legislative session, Oklahoma lawmakers finalized a $6.8 billion budget bill that was later signed by Gov. Mary Fallin. In the governor’s statement on the bill, she noted that state agencies will be hard hit by the agreement–“it leaves many agencies facing cuts for the sixth year in a row”–and that while it does include some recurring revenue, it does not address the state’s long-run structural budget challenges.
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blog
June 2, 2017
What a Populist Budget Proposal Really Looks Like
A truly populist budget would seek to ensure that middle- and low-income families have the resources that they need to get ahead, that the wealthy and corporations are paying their fair share in taxes, and that our country is making the public investments we need to ensure full employment and improve productivity over the long term. The Congressional Progressive Caucus’s (CPC) 2018 budget proposal would make real progress on all of these fronts.
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May 31, 2017
State Rundown 5/31: Budget Woes Spurring Special Legislative Sessions
This week, special legislative sessions featuring tax and budget debates are underway or in the works in Kentucky, Minnesota, New Mexico, and West Virginia, as lawmakers are also running up against regular session deadlines in Illinois, Kansas, and Oklahoma. Meanwhile, a legislative study in Wyoming and an independent analysis in New Jersey are both calling for tax increases to overcome budget shortfalls.
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May 30, 2017
Avocado Toast, iPhones, Billionairesplaining and the Trump Budget
A couple weeks ago, a billionaire set the Internet ablaze when on 60 Minutes Australia he chided millennials to stop buying avocado toast and fancy…