Mississippi lawmakers have approved the most radical and costly change to the state’s personal income tax system to date. House Bill 1 ultimately eliminates the state’s personal income tax and cuts state revenues by nearly $2.7 billion a year when fully implemented. This deeply regressive legislation will create a windfall for the wealthiest residents of the poorest state in the nation while simultaneously jeopardizing the state’s ability to fund public services that support Mississippians and the state’s economy.
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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brief April 8, 2025 A Windfall for the Wealthy: A Distributional Analysis of Mississippi HB 1
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brief March 28, 2025 Advantaging Affluence: A Distributional Analysis of Missouri HB 798’s Uneven Tax Cuts for Wealth and Work
Missouri House Bill 798 would reduce personal and corporate income tax rates, fully eliminate taxes on capital gains income from sale of assets, and eliminates the state’s modest Earned Income Tax Credit that assists many working people in lower-paid jobs. HB 798 would radically transform Missouri’s income tax code into a system that privileges income from wealth over income from work, leaving many middle-income families to pay a higher income tax rate than wealthy people living off their investments.
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media mention March 17, 2025 Stateline: Child Tax Credits, Long a Liberal Priority, Find Favor In Republican States
Cash would flow directly into the hands of Ohio parents under a proposal from Republican Gov. Mike DeWine. As part of multibillion-dollar budget negotiations this session, Ohio lawmakers will consider the new refundable tax credit worth up to $1,000 per young child, to be paid for by an increase in tobacco taxes.
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media mention March 5, 2025 Associated Press: Groceries Around the Country Remain Expensive. That’s Why More States Want to Stop Taxing Them
The number of states imposing sales taxes on groceries has shrunk over the years, and the number may decrease further in the coming months as lawmakers hear complaints about high… -
blog February 20, 2025 Wide-Ranging 2025 State Tax Debates Come into Focus
In the face of immense uncertainty around looming federal tax and budget decisions, many of which could threaten state budgets, state lawmakers have an opportunity to show up for their constituents by raising and protecting the revenue needed to fund shared priorities. Lawmakers have a choice: advance tax policies that improve equity and help communities thrive, or push tax policies that disproportionately benefit the wealthy, drain funding for critical public services, and make it harder for most families to get ahead.
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blog July 18, 2024 Five Tax Takeaways from 2024 State Legislative Sessions
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.
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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…