• blog  March 4, 2020

    State Rundown 3/4: Sun Shining on Progressive Tax Efforts This Week

    Wisconsin’s expansion of a capital gains tax break for high-income households represents a dark spot on this week’s state fiscal news, and the growing threat of COVID-19 is casting an ominous shadow over all of it, but otherwise the picture is pleasantly sunny, featuring small steps forward for sound, progressive tax policy. An initiative to create a graduated income tax in Illinois, for example, got a vote of confidence from a major ratings agency, while a similar effort went public in Michigan and two progressive income tax improvements were debated in Rhode Island. Gas tax updates made encouraging progress in Alaska and Kentucky. And Hawaii leaders continued to work toward important Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and minimum wage improvements.

  •  March 4, 2020

    ITEP Testimony Regarding Connecticut Senate Bill 16, An Act Concerning the Adult Use of Cannabis

    This testimony explains the advantages of the cannabis tax structure proposed in Connecticut’s Senate Bill 16 and offers additional background information as well as ideas for potential changes to the bill.

  • blog  March 3, 2020

    Administration Once Again Touts Misleading Information on 2017 Tax Law

    The Trump administration has remained consistently on message about its 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. More than two years after the passage of the…
  • blog  March 2, 2020

    The Latest Wildly Misleading Argument Against Taxing the Rich

    Anti-tax activists’ convoluted claims that the rich pay too much in taxes broke new ground with an op-ed published last week in the Wall Street Journal. Penned by former Texas Sen. Phil Gramm and John Early, a former official of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the piece is particularly misleading. The so-called evidence in support of their argument against raising taxes on the rich fails to correctly calculate effective tax rates.

  • blog  February 27, 2020

    State Rundown 2/27: Leaps Forward Needed for Tax Justice

    This weekend’s Leap Day should be a welcome extra day for state lawmakers, advocates, and observers who care about tax and budget policy, as there is an overflow of proposals and information to digest. Most importantly, as emphasized in our “What We’re Reading” section, there are never enough days in a month to do justice to the importance of Black History Month and Black Futures Month. In state-specific debates, Oregon and Washington leaders are hoping to take a leap forward in raising funds for homelessness and housing affordability measures. Lawmakers in West Virginia and Wisconsin could use a day to return to the drawing board on recently rejected tax cut proposals. New Jersey and Rhode Island leaders have proposed forward-thinking progressive income tax measures. And lawmakers continue to work overtime on needed gas tax updates in Arizona, Massachusetts, and Utah.

  • blog  February 26, 2020

    Federal Inaction on the Gas Tax is Costing Us Dearly

    Lawmakers should keep in mind that transportation funding woes can be traced to the federal government’s extremely outdated gas tax rate, which has not been raised in more than 26 years⁠—not even to keep up with inflation.

  • blog  February 21, 2020

    Tax Cuts Floated by White House Advisors Are an Attempt to Deflect from TCJA's Failings

    Now that multiple data points reveal the current administration, which promised to look out for the common man, is, in fact, presiding over an upward redistribution of wealth, the public is being treated to pasta policymaking in which advisors are conducting informal public opinion polling by throwing tax-cut ideas against the wall to see if any stick. But the intent behind these ideas is as transparent as a glass noodle.

  • blog  February 20, 2020

    State Rundown 2/20: Property Taxes and School Finance Take Center Stage

    Property taxes and education funding are a major focus in state fiscal debates this week. California voters will soon vote on borrowing billions of dollars to fill just part of the funding hole created in large part by 1978’s anti-property-tax Proposition 13. Nebraska lawmakers are debating major school finance changes that some fear will create similar long-term fiscal issues. And Idaho and South Dakota leaders are looking to avoid that fate by reducing property taxes in ways that will target the families who most need the help. Meanwhile, Arkansas, Nevada, and New Hampshire are taking close looks at their transportation needs and funding sources. And a new business tax subsidy in Ohio doesn’t look great in light of research covered in our “What We’re Reading” section shedding light on the lack of economic benefit from such subsidies.

  • blog  February 19, 2020

    How Democratic Presidential Candidates Would Raise Revenue

    One of the biggest problems with the U.S. tax code in terms of fairness is that investment income, which mostly flows to the rich, is taxed less than the earned income that makes up all or almost all of the income that working people live on.

  • blog  February 18, 2020

    States Can Lead on Making the EITC Benefit More Young and Older Workers

    The federal Earned Income Tax Credit (or EITC) lifts millions out of poverty each year, but it is not created equal for everyone. Childless workers under 25 and over 64 receive no benefit from the existing federal credit. In the absence of immediate federal action, states have led–and continue to lead–the way.