Recent Work by ITEP

Regarding Proposals to Increase Taxes on Upper-Income Rhode Islanders

April 24, 2012 • By Meg Wiehe

My testimony focuses in general on the slate of bills in front of the committee today that would raise taxes on wealthy Rhode Islanders. These bills present Rhode Island policymakers sensible revenue-raising options that could be used to either prevent deeper spending cuts or restore spending to vital public investments such as education, health care, […]

Repealing Estate Tax Will Not Create An Economic Boom

April 1, 2012 • By Carl Davis

Since Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam proposed reducing the state’s estate tax in February, Tennessee lawmakers have shown increasing interest in this idea. Recently, a House subcommittee one-upped the governor by approving a bill that would gradually repeal the tax outright. House Speaker Beth Harwell explained this move by noting that “[w]e know this tax drives […]

Tax Plans Put Kansas on Road Away from Fair & Adequate Tax Reform

March 30, 2012 • By Meg Wiehe

Both the House and Senate have recently passed bills, loosely modeled on the Governor’s plan, that would reduce income tax rates, but their plans are different in very important ways. This ITEP report assesses the impact of the House and Senate plans on state revenues and tax fairness, and finds that each of these plans […]

Idaho House Tax Plan Stacked In Favor of the Wealthy

March 24, 2012 • By Carl Davis

Most Tax Cuts Flow to the Top 1%, Vast Majority of Idahoans Receive No Benefit An income tax cut recently passed by the Idaho House of Representatives, and backed by Governor Butch Otter, would reduce state revenues by over $35 million a year while benefitting only a small fraction of the wealthiest Idahoans. Four out […]

Alaska Senate State Affairs Committee Regarding SB 29, The Alaska Tax Break Transparency Act

March 6, 2012 • By Carl Davis

My testimony today deals with Senate Bill 29, which would take an important first step toward achieving these goals by requiring regular scrutiny of Alaska “tax expenditures”—that is, the various tax credits, deductions, exemptions, and other breaks that reduce Alaska tax revenue. The basic insight behind the idea of “tax expenditures” is that a law […]

Testimony on Reinstating Maryland’s “Millionaires’ Tax”

February 29, 2012 • By Carl Davis

SB 249 would permanently reinstate the “millionaires’ tax” that expired at the end of 2010. This testimony emphasizes that the “millionaires’ tax” makes Maryland’s tax system at least somewhat less unfair than it otherwise would be; that reinstating the tax would result in a substantial federal tax cut for upper-income Marylanders; and that claims about […]

Arthur Laffer Regression Analysis is Fundamentally Flawed, Offers No Support for Economic Growth Claims

February 15, 2012 • By Carl Davis

A November 2011 report from the Oklahoma Council for Public Affairs (OCPA) in partnership with Arduin, Laffer & Moore, a consulting group headed by Arthur Laffer, explains the method that Laffer has been using to make the case that tax cuts lead to economic growth. The results he offers appear impressive, but his methods are […]

“High Rate” Income Tax States Are Outperforming No-Tax States

February 8, 2012 • By Carl Davis

Don’t Be Fooled by Junk Economics With the economy lagging, lawmakers seeking to reduce or eliminate state personal income taxes are touting their proposals as tools for boosting economic growth. Of particular note are the governors of Kansas and Oklahoma, both of whom justified income tax repeal in their State of the State speeches by […]

Kansas Governor Tax Proposal: Wealthy Kansans Pay Less, Poor and Middle-Income Kansans Pay More

January 11, 2012 • By Meg Wiehe

Kansas Governor Sam Brownback unveiled his long anticipated tax plan last week. Sweeping changes to reduce the state’s reliance on its progressive personal income tax are at the core of the proposal. The plan cuts income tax rates, eliminates a variety of income tax deductions and credits, and makes permanent a temporary sales tax rate […]

Building a Better Gas Tax

December 14, 2011 • By Carl Davis

State gas taxes are currently levied in every state, and are the most important source of transportation revenue under the control of state lawmakers. In recent years, however, state gas taxes have fallen dramatically relative to the rising cost of asphalt, concrete, labor, and everything else that goes into maintaining a transportation network. The results […]