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blog
May 13, 2021
Nearly 20 Million Will Benefit if Congress Makes the EITC Enhancement Permanent
Overall, the EITC enhancement would provide a $12.4 billion boost in 2022 if made permanent, benefiting 19.5 million workers. It would have a particularly meaningful impact on the bottom 20 percent of eligible households who would receive more than three-fourths of the total benefit. Forty-one percent of households in the bottom 20 percent of earners would benefit, receiving an average income boost of 6.3 percent, or $740 dollars.
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blog
May 13, 2021
Attacks on Voting Rights, Secret Tax-Cut Negotiations in Arizona Reflect Broader Trend to Undermine Democracy
The onslaught of news about multiple states introducing or passing legislation to make it harder to vote is a clear signal that our democracy is in crisis. Decades of policymaking and judicial rulings have created a system in which the voices of the wealthy and powerful have more weight, and some lawmakers are determined to further rig the system and keep it that way.
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blog
May 12, 2021
Arizonans Voted to Tax the Rich. Now Lawmakers Want to Undo Most of That.
In 2018, Arizona teachers took part in a national wave of teacher walkouts, protesting inadequate education funding and some of the lowest teacher pay in the nation—direct results of the state’s penchant for deep tax cuts and its decision to levy some of the lowest tax rates in the country on high-income families.
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brief
May 6, 2021
Effects of the President’s Capital Gains and Dividends Tax Proposals by State
President Biden’s proposal to eliminate the lower income tax rate on capital gains (profits from selling assets) and stock dividends for millionaires would affect less than half of one percent (0.4 percent) of U.S. taxpayers if it goes into effect in 2022. The share of taxpayers affected would be less than 1 percent in every state.
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blog
May 6, 2021
State Rundown 5/6: April Showers Bring Weeds As Well As Flowers
This week’s state fiscal news brings a reminder that even though advocates for great economic and racial justice have won some major progressive victories recently,… -
blog
April 29, 2021
State Rundown 4/29: How You Like Them Washington Apples?
North Carolina lawmakers may have approved a massive tax subsidy giveaway to Apple, but we won’t let that news spoil our barrel this week. Nor will we be discouraged by Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont’s threats to upset the apple cart full of positive progressive tax reforms state lawmakers recently came together to approve…Why all the optimism? Because the apple of our eye this week is Washington State, where advocates and lawmakers succeeded in a decade-long fight…
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blog
April 27, 2021
Gentrification and the Property Tax: How Circuit Breakers Can Help
Property tax circuit breakers are effective because they provide property tax relief to families whose property taxes surpass a certain percentage of their income. If a family in a gentrifying area sees their property tax bill (or their rent) surge to an unaffordable level, a circuit breaker credit kicks in to offer relief. This targeted approach assists low- and middle-income families without significantly reducing overall tax revenue.
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blog
April 27, 2021
Bold Progressive State Tax Victories Provide Bright Spots in Difficult Year
“Bold progressive victories” is probably not the first phrase that comes to mind when thinking about state laws enacted so far in 2021…But progressive advocates, lawmakers, and voters have won some tremendous victories in states recently…We should celebrate them for the achievements they are—and closely study them for lessons they can teach about how to bring about positive progressive change in these and other states.
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blog
April 27, 2021
Inclusive Child Tax Credit Reform Would Restore Benefit to 1 Million Young ‘Dreamers’
As the Biden administration maps out the next steps in America’s response to the coronavirus pandemic—through what is now being called the American Families Plan—it should make sure a proposed expansion of the Child Tax Credit (CTC) includes undocumented children who have largely been left out of federal relief packages this past year. Prior to 2017 Tax Cut and Jobs Act, all children regardless of their immigration status received the credit as long as their parents met the income eligibility requirements. This change essentially excluded around 1 million children and their families.
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blog
April 27, 2021
Alvin Schorr and the Policy Relay Race
Sometimes a good idea takes a while. Alvin Schorr, who would have turned 100 this month, helped draft a 1972 bill “to provide for a system of children’s allowances.” He continued to push (in a 1977 congressional testimony and in a 1983 New York Times op-ed) for a refundable tax credit for all families and a children’s allowance, among other laudable ideas. A half-century later, these ideas—which many others have championed—are becoming reality.
