Earlier this year, ITEP released a report providing an overview of the impacts of state and local tax policies on race equity. Against a backdrop of vast racial disparities in income and wealth resulting from historical and current injustices both in public policy and in broader society, the report highlights that how states raise revenue to invest in disparity-reducing investments like education, health, and childcare has important implications for race equity.
Lisa Christensen Gee
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blog May 14, 2021 State Tax Codes & Racial Inequities: An Illinois Case Study
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media mention March 29, 2021 WTTW: Proposals Could Expand Eligibility for Earned Income Tax Credit
“[Illinois] just piggybacks off of that by saying if you got the federal credit you get 18% of that for state purposes,” said Lisa Christensen Gee, the director of special… -
media mention September 18, 2020 WREX Rockford: National research group: Flat tax structure favors wealthier Illinoisans
Another group has weighed in on the graduated income tax ballot questions voters will decide on in November. A research study conducted by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy… -
blog September 17, 2020 Illinois’s Flat Income Tax Amounts to a Tax Subsidy for the Wealthiest Illinoisans that Compounds Income and Wealth Inequalities
This November, Illinoisans will decide whether to amend the state constitution to allow a graduated income tax. A “yes” vote on the Illinois Fair Tax constitutional amendment will make effective legislation that will replace the current flat tax rate of 4.95 percent with graduated rates that cut taxes for those with taxable income less than $250,000 and institute higher marginal rates on taxable incomes greater than $250,000.
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news release September 17, 2020 New 20-Year Study Provides Insight on How State Tax Systems Worsen Inequality and the Racial Wealth Gap
A new study finds that over the last 20 years, Illinois’s tax system has effectively sapped $4 billion more from Black and Hispanic communities than it would have under a graduated income tax while also allowing the state’s highest-income (mostly white) households to pay $27 billion less in taxes, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) said today.
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report September 17, 2020 Illinois’s Flat Tax Exacerbates Income Inequality and Racial Wealth Gaps
Flat or graduated personal income taxes have varying effects on the annual individual tax liabilities of taxpayers at different income levels. Less examined is how tax structures affect income inequality and racial wealth gaps. This brief illustrates how Illinois’s historic flat income tax structure compares to the proposed Fair Tax through a multi-year retrospective analysis. It shows that Illinois’s flat income tax in lieu of a graduated rate tax used by most states amounts to a tax subsidy for the wealthiest Illinoisans that compounds income inequality and racial wealth gaps.
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March 11, 2020 ITEP Testimony on the Illinois Earned Income Credit
Read as PDF Testimony of Lisa Christensen Gee, Director of Special Initiatives, Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy Submitted to: Illinois House Revenue Committee Chairman Zalewski, committee members—thank you for… -
news release September 12, 2019 New Report: A Chicago EITC Would Benefit up to 1 Million Chicago Families
Media contact Report outlines policy options for Chicago Resilient Families Initiative Task Force Recommendations A new report reveals that a city-level, Chicago Earned Income Tax Credit would boost the economic security… -
report September 12, 2019 Promoting Greater Economic Security Through A Chicago Earned Income Tax Credit: Analyses of Six Policy Design Options
A new report reveals that a city-level, Chicago Earned Income Tax Credit would boost the economic security of 546,000 to 1 million of the city’s working families. ITEP produced a cost and distributional analysis of six EITC policy designs, which outlines the average after-tax income boost for families at varying income levels. The most generous policy option would increase after-tax income for more than 1 million working families with an
average benefit, depending on income, ranging from $898 to $1,426 per year. -
news release March 7, 2019 Gov. Pritzker’s Tax Proposal Is a Huge Step Toward Fairer Taxes
Gov. Pritzker’s Fair Tax proposal reflects a necessary and strong commitment to reforming Illinois’s tax system in a fair way that will help the state raise the revenue it needs to stabilize its finances and improve quality of life for all its residents. The state’s financial crisis spans several years and getting the state back on firm fiscal footing requires bold solutions and—yes—tax increases.
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blog February 7, 2019 Trends We’re Watching in 2019: Attempting to Double Down on Failed Trickle-Down Regressive Tax Cuts
It’s always troubling for those concerned with adequate and fair public finance systems when states prioritize tax cuts at the cost of divesting in important public priorities and exacerbating underlying tax inequalities. But it’s even more nerve-racking when it happens on the eve of what many consider to be an inevitable economic downturn.
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blog February 7, 2019 Trends We’re Watching in 2019: Raising Revenue and Spending Surpluses to Prioritize Critical Public Investments
A second notable trend in 2019 is states raising revenue to address longstanding needs and states allocating their surpluses to invest in critical public priorities such as early childhood programs, education and other human services.
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media mention January 11, 2019 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: State Finance Official Says 200,000 Filers Would See Tax Increase in Plan’s Current Form; Governor Wants Fix
Rep. Lane Jean, R-Magnolia, said he started digging last month into a written analysis of the plan given by Lisa Christiansen Gee, senior policy analyst at the Institute on Taxation… -
report August 23, 2018 ITEP Testimony “Regarding the Final Report of the Arkansas Tax Reform and Relief Legislative Task Force”
Read the testimony in PDF WRITTEN TESTIMONY SUBMITTED TO: THE ARKANSAS TAX REFORM AND RELIEF TASK FORCE Lisa Christensen Gree, Senior State Tax Policy Analyst Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy… -
blog April 4, 2018 Trends We’re Watching in 2018, Part 4: Tax Cuts & Tax Shifts
While a lot of tax activities in the states this year have focused on figuring out the impact of federal tax changes on states’ bottom lines and residents, there also have been unrelated efforts to cut state taxes or shift from personal income taxes to more regressive sales taxes.
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blog August 10, 2017 The Many Reasons for the Seattle Income Tax
A month ago, the Seattle City Council passed an income tax measure, which has garnered a lot of attention as well as volumes of supportive and opposition commentary. Haven’t had… -
blog June 13, 2017 How to Recover from A Failed Tax Experiment: Part 1
Gov. Sam Brownback’s tax experiment in Kansas was a failure.
His radical tax cuts for the rich eventually had to be partly paid for through tax hikes on low- and middle-income families and also failed to deliver on promises of economic growth. Meanwhile, the tax cuts decimated the state’s budget, diminished its credit rating, and compromised its ability to meet the state’s constitutional standard of adequacy for public education.
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blog April 21, 2017 No Room to Swing a CAT in Louisiana Legislature
The Louisiana Legislature has been in session for two weeks now. The stage has been set for fiscal reform and the stakes are high. The state faces a $1.3 billion… -
report March 1, 2017 Undocumented Immigrants’ State & Local Tax Contributions
Public debates over federal immigration reform, specifically around undocumented immigrants, often suffer from insufficient and inaccurate information about the tax contributions of undocumented immigrants, particularly at the state level. The truth is that undocumented immigrants living in the United States paybillions of dollars each year in state and local taxes. Further, these tax contributions would increase significantly if all undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States were granted a pathway to citizenship as part of comprehensive immigration reform. Or put in the reverse, if undocumented immigrants are deported in high numbers, state and local revenues could take a substantial hit.
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blog February 28, 2017 Return of the Moderate: A Kansas Force Awakens
Before the tea party wave of 2010 that brought Gov. Sam Brownback to power and inspired the disappointing “real life experiment” in tax policy, Kansas was primarily governed by a… -
media mention February 28, 2017 AJ +: President Trump Thinks Undocumented Immigrants Are a Drain on the Economy. He’s wrong
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ITEP Work in Action February 14, 2017 ITEP Testimony Regarding Kansas Senate Bill 188
ITEP analysis of Kansas tax changes enacted between 2012 and 2015 shows the state lost over $1 billion in revenue annually from changes to its personal income tax, including lowering… -
ITEP Work in Action February 7, 2017 ITEP Testimony Regarding Kansas Senate Bill 2237
ITEP analysis of Kansas tax changes enacted between 2012 and 2015 shows the state lost over $1 billion in revenue annually from changes to its personal income tax, including lowering… -
blog January 27, 2017 What to Watch in the States Series: Tax Policy 2017
Over the next few weeks we will be blogging about what we’re watching in state tax policy during 2017 legislative sessions. In this “What to Watch in the States” series,… -
blog January 18, 2017 Kansas State of the State: Worlds Apart
Back in December, Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback gave an interview with the Wall Street Journal and suggested President-elect Trump should follow his state’s example and cut taxes as well as…