• blog  July 31, 2020

    Sorry, States: GOP Senate Ignores Need for Federal Relief to State and Local Governments

    During the Great Recession, the most ambitious state revenue-raising efforts closed just 10 percent of shortfalls and most states relied heavily on federal aid and budget cuts to balance their budgets. Of course, states can and should turn to progressive revenue-raising options now, but as the pandemic rages on, the extent of this crisis will become too significant for states and localities to handle on their own. The federal government should step in to help.  

  • blog  July 29, 2020

    State Rundown 7/29: There is No Offseason During a Pandemic

    As many of the country’s major professional sports leagues attempt to return to action amid concerns that the pandemic will find a way to ruin even the best-laid plans, state legislatures find themselves in a similar boat. Lawmakers would normally be enjoying their summer breaks at this time of year, but instead are returning to work in special sessions surrounded by plexiglass and uncertainty. Read on for information on ongoing sessions in states including California, Massachusetts, and Nebraska, as well as upcoming sessions in Missouri and Oregon.

  • blog  July 29, 2020

    Biden’s Minimum Corporate Tax Proposal: Yes, Please Limit Amazon’s Tax Breaks

    By Matthew Gardner and Steve Wamhoff A large majority of Americans want corporations to pay more taxes and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has several proposals…
  • brief  July 29, 2020

    Sales Tax Holidays: An Ineffective Alternative to Real Sales Tax Reform

    Lawmakers in many states have enacted “sales tax holidays” (16 states will hold them in 2020) to provide a temporary break on paying the tax on purchases of clothing, school supplies, and other items. These holidays may seem to lessen the regressive impacts of the sales tax, but their benefits are minimal while their downsides are significant—and amplified in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This policy brief looks at sales tax holidays as a tax reduction device.

  • blog  July 29, 2020

    A Cautionary Tale on Sales Tax Holidays During a Pandemic

    Sixteen U.S. states will hold “sales tax holidays” this year. As ITEP’s newly updated brief explains, these events offer dubious benefits at significant public expense even in normal years, problems which are only amplified in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • blog  July 28, 2020

    A Hero vs a Heel: No Contest

    Americans are demanding policy that meets the needs of this urgent moment. There are now competing proposals from the U.S. House and Senate: One is a reasonable response to the staggering crisis we’re in. One is not.

  • blog  July 28, 2020

    A Tax Loophole You Could Drive a Food Truck Through: Senate GOP Proposes Full Deductibility of Business Meals

    After weeks of being in no particular hurry to assemble a new COVID-19 economic relief package, the Senate GOP has released its plan. It includes the “Supporting America’s Restaurant Workers Act,” which would allow business owners to write off 100 percent of the cost of their restaurant meals through the end of 2020. The two most obvious questions to ask about such a plan are “why” and “why now?” Republican lawmakers have not offered sensible responses to either because they have none.

  • brief  July 28, 2020

    New Analysis Compares HEROES Act and HEALS Act, Disaggregates Data by Race and Income

    The Health, Economic Assistance, Liability Protection and Schools (HEALS) Act released by Senate Republicans Monday includes a tax rebate that is slightly more generous than the one provided under the March CARES Act, but fails to correct most of the earlier act’s problems. House Democrats addressed these shortcomings in the May HEROES Act, a better starting place for negotiations over the next round of COVID-19 relief. ITEP has analyzed both acts to provide a detailed comparison of how the tax rebate provisions would affect families across the income spectrum and by race. Both measures would provide cash payments to a majority of individuals and families, but the HEROES Act goes farther and is more inclusive.

  • blog  July 24, 2020

    Treasury Secretary Mnuchin to Unemployed Workers: Don’t Worry, Get a Bank Loan   

    In an explanation that can only be called richsplaining, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin on Thursday suggested that Congress’s delay in approving expanded unemployment benefits was no problem because banks would extend loans to people in the meantime.

  • news release  July 23, 2020

    Republican COVID Relief Plan Doesn’t Rise to the Moment

    Media contact Following is a statement by Amy Hanauer, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), regarding the pending Republican plan…