• blog  September 14, 2017

    Census Data Reveal Modest Gains for Working People; GOP Tax Overhaul Could Reverse These Gains

    On the surface, census poverty and income data released Tuesday reveal the nation’s economic conditions are improving for working families. The federal poverty rate declined…
  • blog  September 13, 2017

    State Rundown 9/13: The Year of Unprecedented State Budget Impasses Continues

    This week, Pennsylvania lawmakers risk defaulting on payments due to their extremely overdue budget and Illinois legislators will borrow billions to start paying their backlog of unpaid bills. Governing delves into why there were more such budget impasses this year than in any year in recent memory. And Oklahoma got closure from its Supreme Court on whether closing special tax exemptions counts as “raising taxes” (it doesn’t).

  • press release  September 13, 2017

    New Analysis Shows White House Tax Proposal Would be an Unprecedented Upward Redistribution of Wealth

    The tax plan outlined by President Trump would strip away the U.S. tax system’s moderate progressivity by lowering the effective tax rate for the wealthiest…
  • report  September 13, 2017   

    Trump Proposals Would Reduce the Share of Taxes Paid by the Richest 1%, Raise It for Everyone Else

    The tax proposals released by the Trump Administration in April would reduce the share of total federal, state and local taxes paid by America’s richest 1 percent while increasing the share paid by all other income groups. This clearly indicates that the tax system would be less progressive under the president’s approach.

  • blog  September 12, 2017

    Census Data Shows Importance of Refundable Tax Credits in Reducing Poverty, But Lawmakers Move to Restrict Them

    The annual poverty data released by the Census Bureau today continues to show that federal refundable tax credits are the second most important anti-poverty program…
  • brief  September 11, 2017

    Reducing the Cost of Child Care Through State Tax Codes in 2017

    Low- and middle-income working parents spend a significant portion of their income on child care. As the number of parents working outside of the home continues to rise, child care expenses have become an unavoidable and increasingly unaffordable expense. This policy brief examines state tax policy tools that can be used to make child care more affordable: a dependent care tax credit modeled after the federal program and a deduction for child care expenses.

  • brief  September 11, 2017

    Property Tax Circuit Breakers in 2017

    State lawmakers seeking to make residential property taxes more affordable have two broad options: across-the-board tax cuts for taxpayers at all income levels, such as a homestead exemption or a tax cap, and targeted tax breaks that are given only to particular groups of low- and middle-income taxpayers. One such targeted program to reduce property taxes is called a “circuit breaker” because it protects taxpayers from a property tax “overload” just like an electric circuit breaker: when a property tax bill exceeds a certain percentage of a taxpayer’s income, the circuit breaker reduces property taxes in excess of this “overload” level. This policy brief surveys the advantages and disadvantages of the circuit breaker approach to reducing property taxes.

  • brief  September 11, 2017

    Options for a Less Regressive Sales Tax in 2017

    Sales taxes are one of the most important revenue sources for state and local governments; however, they are also among the most unfair taxes, falling more heavily on low- and middle-income households. Therefore, it is important that policymakers nationwide find ways to make sales taxes more equitable while preserving this important source of funding for public services. This policy brief discusses two approaches to a less regressive sales tax: broad-based exemptions and targeted sales tax credits.

  • brief  September 11, 2017

    Rewarding Work Through State Earned Income Tax Credits in 2017

    The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is a policy designed to bolster the earnings of low-wage workers and offset some of the taxes they pay, providing the opportunity for struggling families to step up and out of poverty toward meaningful economic security. The federal EITC has kept millions of Americans out of poverty since its enactment in the mid-1970s. Over the past several decades, the effectiveness of the EITC has been magnified as many states have enacted and later expanded their own credits.

  • blog  September 7, 2017

    State Rundown 9/6: Most Statehouses Quiet, Many Pondering Harvey's Impacts

    It’s been a quiet week for tax policy in most states, though lawmakers are still making noise in Pennsylvania, where a budget agreement is still needed, and in Wisconsin, where legislators are searching for the will to raise revenue for the state’s ailing transportation infrastructure. In our “What We’re Reading” section you’ll find interesting reading on the fiscal fallout of Hurricane Harvey, as well as an in-depth series on how states’ disaster response needs are likely to continue to increase.