Recent Work by ITEP

Attacks on Voting Rights, Secret Tax-Cut Negotiations in Arizona Reflect Broader Trend to Undermine Democracy

May 13, 2021 • By Carl Davis, ITEP Staff, Jenice Robinson

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.

Arizonans Voted to Tax the Rich. Now Lawmakers Want to Undo Most of That.

May 12, 2021 • By Carl Davis

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.

Effects of the President’s Capital Gains and Dividends Tax Proposals by State

May 6, 2021 • By ITEP Staff, Matthew Gardner, Steve Wamhoff

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.

State Rundown 5/6: April Showers Bring Weeds As Well As Flowers

May 6, 2021 • By ITEP Staff

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, anti-tax zealots have been hard at work too. Lawmakers advanced or enacted troubling regressive tax cuts or shifts in Idaho, Kansas, and Montana, and are actively debating them in Iowa, […]

State Rundown 4/29: How You Like Them Washington Apples?

April 29, 2021 • By ITEP Staff

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...

Gentrification and the Property Tax: How Circuit Breakers Can Help

April 27, 2021 • By David Crawford

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.

Bold Progressive State Tax Victories Provide Bright Spots in Difficult Year

April 27, 2021 • By Dylan Grundman O'Neill

“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.

Inclusive Child Tax Credit Reform Would Restore Benefit to 1 Million Young ‘Dreamers’

April 27, 2021 • By Marco Guzman

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.

Alvin Schorr and the Policy Relay Race

April 27, 2021 • By Amy Hanauer

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.

State Rundown 4/21: Spring Has Sprung, or Has It?

April 21, 2021 • By ITEP Staff

Just as a recent cold snap reminded us that spring has not fully sprung yet, this week’s news has been full of reminders that state fiscal debates aren’t quite finished either...