Major tax cuts were largely rejected this year, but states continue to chip away at income taxes. And while property tax cuts were a hot topic across the country, many states failed to deliver effective solutions to affordability issues.
Aidan Davis
Aidan Davis works closely with policymakers, legislative staff, and state organizations across the country to advance policy solutions that aim to achieve equitable and sustainable state and local tax systems. Much of her research focuses on tax credits for lower-income families and state tax measures to improve revenue adequacy.
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blog July 18, 2024 Five Tax Takeaways from 2024 State Legislative Sessions
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media mention June 20, 2024 Pluribus News: The Volatility of Taxing the Rich
State leaders in Massachusetts and Washington are learning it’s hard to predict how much money their taxes on millionaires and billionaires will rake in.
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blog March 20, 2024 Eliminating Income Taxes Would Be an Expensive Giveaway
Governors and legislative leaders in a dozen states have made calls to fully eliminate their taxes on personal or corporate income, after many states already deeply slashed them over the past few years. The public deserves to know the true impact of these plans, which would inevitably result in an outsized windfall to states’ richest taxpayers, more power in the hands of wealthy households and corporations, extreme cuts to basic public services, and more deeply inequitable state tax codes.
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media mention March 4, 2024 Route Fifty: States Move to Cut Grocery Taxes
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt on Tuesday signed a bill to eliminate the state’s sales tax on groceries. With the 4.5% tax gone, that leaves 11 states that impose a grocery tax—a number that is swiftly shrinking. Stitt called it the largest single-year tax cut in state history. Oklahoma will see more than $415 million less in revenue a year.
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media mention February 12, 2024 Center for Public Integrity: More Tax Cuts Put States’ Revenue At Risk
At least a dozen proposals for income tax cuts that would primarily benefit wealthy residents and big companies are already on the table for state legislatures to consider in 2024 — and… -
media mention January 4, 2024 Stateline: State Lawmakers Seek to Limit Property Tax Increases as Home Values Soar
Property taxes are rising along with real estate prices — particularly in the Mountain West. Read more. -
media mention October 25, 2023 Stateline: Blue and Red States Slash Taxes Despite Warnings of Hard Times Ahead
Since 2021, half the states have cut personal income tax rates. Read more. -
media mention October 1, 2023 Capital & Main: Some States Are Fighting Rising Child Poverty With Tax Credits
New Mexico is one of 10 states that have created or expanded child tax credits after Congress let a federal program expire. Read more. -
blog September 12, 2023 State Tax Credits Have Transformative Power to Improve Economic Security
The latest analysis from the U.S. Census Bureau provides an important reminder of the compelling link between public investments and families’ economic well-being. Policy decisions can drastically reduce poverty and improve family economic stability for low- and middle-income families alike, as today’s data release shows.
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brief September 12, 2023 States are Boosting Economic Security with Child Tax Credits in 2023
Fourteen states now provide Child Tax Credits to reduce poverty, boost economic security, and invest in children. This year alone, lawmakers in three states created new Child Tax Credits while lawmakers in seven states expanded existing credits. To maximize impact, lawmakers should consider making their credits fully refundable, not including an earnings requirement, setting a maximum amount per child instead of per household, setting state-specific phase-out ranges that target low- and middle-income families, indexing to inflation, and offering the option of advanced payments.
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brief September 12, 2023 Boosting Incomes, Improving Equity: State Earned Income Tax Credits in 2023
Nearly two-thirds of states (31 plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico) have an Earned Income Tax Credit, an effective tool that boosts low-paid workers’ incomes and helps lower-income families achieve greater economic security. This year, 12 states expanded and improved EITCs.
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media mention July 28, 2023 Charlotte Observer: NC Republicans Aren’t Worried About the Effects of Tax Cuts. You Should Be.
In mid-summer, the state capital is experiencing an odd mix of anxiety and content. Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper is warning that plans by Republican state lawmakers to expand private school… -
blog July 7, 2023 The Highs and Lows of 2023 State Legislative Sessions
Nearly one-third of states took steps to improve their tax systems this year by investing in people through refundable tax credits, and in a few notable cases by raising revenue from those most able to pay. But another third of states lost ground, continuing a trend of permanent tax cuts that overwhelmingly benefit high-income households and make tax codes less adequate and equitable.
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media mention July 1, 2023 Mountain State Spotlight: Tax Cuts, Low-Balled Estimates and Volatile Revenues: Inside West Virginia’s $1.8 Billion Budget Surplus
Gov. Jim Justice has used the state’s budget surplus as proof of his business skills as he runs for the U.S. Senate. But the surplus is built on unpredictable revenue… -
blog June 5, 2023 The Real Impact of State Tax Cuts
This op-ed was originally published by Route Fifty and co-written by ITEP State Director Aidan Davis and Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Senior Advisor for State Tax Policy Wesley… -
media mention May 24, 2023 Governing: What’s Driving This Year’s Ambitious Tax Cuts?
Revenues are slowing but lawmakers, at least in red states, have continued to enact major tax cuts this year. Read more. -
media mention April 25, 2023 The New Republic: The Future of the Expanded Child Tax Credit Is With the States (for Now)
Congress failed to renew the wildly successful measure, but state lawmakers across the country are working to bring it back. Read more. -
blog April 12, 2023 Deep Public Investment Changes Lives, Yet Too Many States Continue to Seek Tax Cuts
When state budgets are strong, lawmakers should put those revenues toward building a stronger and more inclusive society for the long haul. Yet, many state lawmakers have made clear that their top priority is repeatedly cutting taxes for the wealthy.
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media mention February 9, 2023 FiveThirtyEight: Congress’s U-Turn Has States Thinking About Giving Parents Cash
Last year, Congress walked away from what looked like one of the most effective fixes for child poverty in a generation. Now, state legislators are trying to walk it back. Lawmakers in… -
media mention February 2, 2023 States Newsroom: States Take Heat for Spending Federal Relief Funds on Tax Cuts, Prisons
As states plan how they’ll spend the $25 billion remaining in federal COVID relief funds, some also are facing criticism and renewed scrutiny over how they allocated money already received… -
media mention January 10, 2023 Governing: The Biggest Issues to Watch in 2023
State coffers are overflowing, but inflation could put a pinch on spending plans and tax cuts. The labor market remains tight just when the demand for more teachers is skyrocketing.… -
media mention December 20, 2022 Hawaii Public Radio: Report: State could slash child poverty in half with new tax credit
The child tax credit has been available at the federal level since 1997. Before 2021, families were able to take advantage of a $2,000 credit per child. Under the American… -
media mention December 15, 2022 Pluribus News: States Advance Child Tax Credits as Congress Deliberates
Lawmakers in Connecticut, New York and several other states want to expand tax breaks for families with children next year, inspired by a 2021 federal tax credit that dramatically reduced… -
media mention December 3, 2022 Mississippi Public Radio: State Child Tax Credit Could Benefit Mississippi
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blog November 16, 2022 States Can Halve Child Poverty with Child Tax Credits
State policymakers have the tools they need to drastically reduce child poverty within their borders. A new ITEP report, coauthored with Columbia University’s Center on Poverty and Social Policy, explores…