• map  May 17, 2019

    How Heavily Does Your State Rely on Individual Income Taxes?

    Income taxes vary considerably in their structure across states, though the best taxes are fine-tuned to taxpayers’ ability-to-pay.

  • blog  May 17, 2019

    Bootstraps Remain an Ineffective Tool for Combatting Poverty

    Policymakers and the public widely agree that economic inequality is the social policy problem of our age. It threatens the livelihoods of millions of children and adults, and it even threatens our democracy. Although some say Americans could fix it themselves by simply rolling up their sleeves, as a sub-headline in a March U.S. News and World Report column implied, the reality is different.

  • blog  May 16, 2019

    State Rundown 5/16: Tensions Remain High Over Budgets and School Finances in Several States

    Tax and budget negotiations remain at standstills in Louisiana and Minnesota, as school funding debates and teacher protests again captured headlines in several states. Oregon…
  • map  May 12, 2019

    How Heavily Does Your State Rely on Corporate Income Taxes?

    Corporate income taxes are an important source of revenue for state governments and ensure that profitable corporations benefiting from public services pay toward the maintenance of those services.

  •  May 10, 2019

    Presentation: NCSL Task Force on State and Local Taxation, Taxing Cannabis

    ITEP Research Director Carl Davis presented to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) Task Force on State and Local Taxation on approaches to cannabis taxation and the recent report Taxing Cannabis.

  • blog  May 9, 2019

    State Rundown 5/9: Illinois Moves Closer to a Progressive Income Tax

    Lawmakers in Illinois and Ohio have advanced major tax proposals but cannot rest just yet, as they must still get past the other legislative chamber. Their counterparts in Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Oregon, meanwhile, are all at impasses over education funding, as those in Texas left their school funding disagreement unresolved at least until they reconvene…in 2021. And in an era of many states pre-empting smaller jurisdictions by revoking local decision-making powers, leaders in Colorado and Delaware made moves in the opposite direction, entrusting cities and school districts with more local control.

  • blog  May 6, 2019

    Proponents of Trump Tax Law Cite ITEP with Obvious Lack of Context

    Sen. Chuck Grassley, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, today has an op-ed defending Trump-GOP tax law. “One of the most-covered falsehoods being spread about tax reform,” as he calls the law, “is that it’s a middle-class tax hike.” He cites ITEP’s estimates to back up his point that most people in every income group have lower taxes because of the law. As Sen. Grassley and his staff know full well, this leaves out the important point of our findings.

  • blog  May 1, 2019

    State Rundown 5/1: Teacher Uprisings Continue on May Day

    Teachers in North Carolina and South Carolina are walking out and rallying this week for increased education funding, teacher and staff pay, and other improvements to benefit students—if you’re unsure why be sure to check out research on the teacher shortage and pay gap under “What We’re Reading” below. Meanwhile, budget debates have recently wrapped up in Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Washington. And major tax debates are kicking into high gear in both Louisiana and Nebraska.

  •  April 26, 2019

    ITEP Testimony Supporting H.B. No. 7415, An Act Concerning a Surcharge on Capital Gains

    Comments are intended to offer some perspective on the broader tax policy context in which this proposal is being considered. We find that this proposal would help to lessen long-running inequities in Connecticut’s state and local tax law that have allowed high-income taxpayers to pay lower overall effective tax rates than most low- and middle-income families.

  • blog  April 26, 2019

    State Rundown 4/26: Capital Gains Taxes Make Gains and Regressive Proposals Regress

    Progressive capital gains tax proposals made news this week in Connecticut and Massachusetts, while Nebraskans came out in force to oppose a regressive tax shift, and North Carolina teachers prepare to rally over their legislature’s proclivity to cut taxes on wealthy households while underfunding schools.