President Joe Biden’s American Families and Jobs plans intend to “build back better” and create a more inclusive economy. To fully live up to this ideal, the final plan must include undocumented people and their families.
Meg Wiehe
Meg Wiehe is ITEP’s deputy executive director. She joined ITEP in 2010 after spending several years working on tax policy in her home state of North Carolina. She coordinates ITEP’s federal and state tax policy research and advocacy agenda. Meg works closely with policymakers, legislative staff and state and national organizations to provide guidance and research on policy solutions that will achieve equitable and sustainable federal, state and local tax systems.
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blog July 7, 2021 Congress Should Follow States’ Lead on Inclusive Economic Recovery
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blog March 31, 2021 A New Look at Taxes and Race at the State and Local Levels
A new ITEP report reveals how different taxes have very different impacts on racial equity and unveils data for two states showcasing the consequences of their contrasting tax policy choices. In short, we find that income taxes can help narrow the racial income and wealth divides while sales taxes generally make those divides worse.
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media mention February 26, 2021 WJTV: Experts discuss bill that would eliminate Mississippi’s state income tax
According to data from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), the proposal to increase the state’s sales tax rate to 9.5 percent would give Mississippians the highest sales… -
blog February 2, 2021 President Biden’s Child Tax Credit Proposal Could Right a Historical Wrong
Many 1990s policies were grounded in harmful, erroneous ideas such as financial struggles are due to personal shortcomings and less government is better. Lawmakers didn’t apply these ideas consistently, however. For example, there was no drive to reduce corporate welfare even as policymakers slashed the safety net and disinvested in lower-income communities. So, it’s not surprising that a bipartisan group of lawmakers concluded during that era that the CTC was an appropriate vehicle to give higher-income households a tax break while leaving out poor children.
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blog December 4, 2020 McConnell Balked at More Stimulus Aid to States, Betting Red States Wouldn’t Need It. Now?
It is December 2020. Sen. McConnell has denied states—and their residents—relief for months. Congress must act now. Even if it does, it is unlikely to provide the robust aid needed to keep communities afloat and positioned for healthy recovery. Lawmakers across the country should be prepared to return to state capitals and city halls in the new year with plans to raise revenue not just to weather this crisis, but also to invest in long-term recovery.
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media mention November 12, 2020 Stateline: Budget Holes Loom After Voters Reject Some Tax Hikes
But Meg Wiehe, deputy executive director of the progressive Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said that is an oversimplification. She said wild speculation in opposition ads about what Illinois… -
media mention November 6, 2020 New York Times: Arizona Passes a Ballot Measure to Raise Teacher Pay by Taxing the Wealthy
Prop. 208 passed with 52 percent of voters supporting the measure, The Associated Press reported late Thursday. Under Arizona’s rules for ballot measures, the tax increase needed a simple majority… -
blog September 3, 2020 The Rich Are Weathering the Pandemic Just Fine: Tax Them
Reductions in critical state and local investments, including health care and education, would only exacerbate the economic crisis brought on by COVID-19 and worsen racial and income inequality for years to come. Higher taxes on top earners are among the best options for addressing pandemic-related state revenue shortfalls in the coming months.
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ITEP Work in Action August 26, 2020 South Strong: Racial Equity and Taxes in Southern States
Southern states have a particularly egregious record on tax equity, rooted partly in racism. Lawmakers baked some of the most egregious and anti-democratic tax policies into southern state constitutions, such… -
media mention August 20, 2020 Bloomberg: Tax Code Inequities Fuel Call for IRS to Collect Race-Based Data
The structure of the Child Tax Credit, for instance, “leaves behind some of our lowest-income children of color,” because of the way the credit is phased in as earnings increase,… -
blog July 31, 2020 Sorry, States: GOP Senate Ignores Need for Federal Relief to State and Local Governments
During the Great Recession, the most ambitious state revenue-raising efforts closed just 10 percent of shortfalls and most states relied heavily on federal aid and budget cuts to balance their budgets. Of course, states can and should turn to progressive revenue-raising options now, but as the pandemic rages on, the extent of this crisis will become too significant for states and localities to handle on their own. The federal government should step in to help.
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media mention July 29, 2020 Bloomberg: States Eye Anti-Poverty Tax Credit to Ease Covid Impact
The various state programs differ widely with the key distinction being refundability. Twenty-three of the 29 EITC states have made their credits refundable—widely considered an important check against regressivity. “Almost… -
brief July 28, 2020 New Analysis Compares HEROES Act and HEALS Act, Disaggregates Data by Race and Income
The Health, Economic Assistance, Liability Protection and Schools (HEALS) Act released by Senate Republicans Monday includes a tax rebate that is slightly more generous than the one provided under the March CARES Act, but fails to correct most of the earlier act’s problems. House Democrats addressed these shortcomings in the May HEROES Act, a better starting place for negotiations over the next round of COVID-19 relief. ITEP has analyzed both acts to provide a detailed comparison of how the tax rebate provisions would affect families across the income spectrum and by race. Both measures would provide cash payments to a majority of individuals and families, but the HEROES Act goes farther and is more inclusive.
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media mention July 27, 2020 Politico Morning Tax: Another View
Meg Wiehe of the liberal Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy noted that most states, with just a couple of exceptions, have budgets lined up for fiscal 2021 — but… -
media mention July 17, 2020 Bloomberg: Virus Surge Hits Budgets of States Most Vulnerable to Shutdowns
As the two states have each surpassed nearly 600,000 confirmed cases combined, with daily new cases in the tens of thousands, governors in Florida and Texas are considering scaling back… -
report May 15, 2020 Major Cash Payment and Tax Provisions in the HEROES Act
The major provisions for cash payments and tax changes in the House Democrats’ Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act would provide nearly $600 billion to individuals and households and average benefits of more than $3,000 to families in all but the highest income levels.
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brief May 14, 2020 Analysis: How the HEROES Act Would Reach ITIN Filers
The HEROES Act, filed by the House Democrats this week, includes a new one-time payment of $1,200 per adult and child and extends the payment to ITIN filers and their families. The bill also includes a retroactive change to the CARES Act ensuring ITIN filers will also receive the initial payment under the CARES Act. ITEP estimates more than 4.3 million adults and 3.5 million children would benefit from this change.
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news release April 24, 2020 ITEP: Making Decisions on Federal Relief Based on Blue v. Red States is Morally Bankrupt
Following is a statement by Meg Wiehe, deputy executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, regarding Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s press release on “blue state bailouts” and suggestion that states facing budgetary shortfalls should seek bankruptcy protection.
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report April 15, 2020 State Options to Shore up Revenues and Improve Tax Codes amid Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic is an extraordinarily challenging time, as we see harm and struggle affecting the vast majority of our families, businesses, public services, and economic sectors. No one will be unaffected by the crisis, and everyone has a stake in the recovery and faces tough decisions. In the world of state fiscal policy, where revenue shortfalls are likely to be far bigger than can be filled by the initial $150 billion in federal aid or absorbed through funding cuts without causing major harm, tax increases must be among those decisions. Even with more federal support, states will need home-grown revenue solutions in the short, medium, and long terms as the crisis and its fiscal fallout intensify, subside, and eventually give way to a new normal. States must balance their budgets, and research shows that they harm their economies when they choose deep funding cuts to vital public investments over increasing tax contributions from those who can afford them.
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media mention April 13, 2020 Bloomberg: 10 Ways States Could Fortify Tax Structures Ahead of Next Crisis
“There is nothing like a crisis to get states thinking about their tax structures and the things they can do to become more sustainable in the long run,” said Meg… -
media mention April 13, 2020 Connecticut Mirror: CT’s unflappable sales tax faces unprecedented threat from coronavirus
“Early indications are that consumers are cutting back or spending much less due to personal economic uncertainty,” analysts for the Washington, D.C.-based Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy [ITEP] wrote… -
blog April 2, 2020 Federal Relief Bill Doesn’t Go Far Enough: Q&A with Meg Wiehe
The final version of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act enacted last week included rebate provisions that will reach most low-, moderate- and middle-income adults and children, but not everyone. Meg Wiehe sits down for a Q&A to discuss who benefits from the rebate provision, who is excluded and how states can respond to support communities.
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blog April 2, 2020 Sales Taxes and Social Distancing: State and Local Governments May Face Their Steepest Sales Tax Decline Ever
One pressing question is what will an economic downturn in which consumers are anxious, facing job loss, or simply spending their time sheltering in place and not spending money in typical ways, mean for states’ ability to raise revenue?
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media mention March 27, 2020 Bloomberg: Delayed Tax Filing Could Mean Larger Stimulus Check for Some
For people who were ineligible in 2018 and perhaps took a pay cut or got a divorce that put them under the income thresholds in 2019, “there needs to be… -
blog March 24, 2020 NEW ANALYSIS: House Democratic Stimulus Bill Explained
Breaking ITEP analysis explains how a newly-introduced House Democrats’ proposal—far more comprehensive and better targeted than the recently failed GOP Senate bill—combines overdue expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit with direct rebates to reach workers and families across all income groups.