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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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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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… -
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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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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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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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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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.
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blog March 23, 2020 New State-by-State Estimates: Modified Senate GOP Stimulus Bill Still Falls Short
The GOP Senate stimulus bill voted down yesterday is a slight improvement over the first GOP proposal released Thursday, but it still fails to prioritize workers and families or provide fast relief to those who need it most.
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blog March 20, 2020 Why the GOP Senate Bill Fails to Address the Crisis, and Why a Democratic Bill Looks More Promising
National and state-by-state data available for download By Steve Wamhoff and Meg Wiehe On Thursday night, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell released a bill that reportedly cost more than $1… -
blog September 4, 2019 Why Local Jurisdictions’ Heavy Reliance on Fines and Fees Is a Tax Policy Issue
The exposé (Addicted to Fines: Small Towns Are Dangerously Dependent) raises two important issues that policymakers have the power to address. One, lack of revenue at the local level is linked to a broader challenge with state tax systems. Two, fines and fees often entrap lower-income people in a cycle of debt and, in some jurisdictions, ultimately criminalize poverty by casting unpaid fines as misdemeanor crimes.
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blog July 18, 2019 Many States Move Toward Higher Taxes on the Rich; Lower Taxes on Poor People
Several states this year proposed or enacted tax policies that would require high-income households and/or businesses to pay more in taxes. After years of policymaking that slashed taxes for wealthy households and deprived states of revenue to adequately fund public services, this is a necessary and welcome reversal.
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report May 22, 2019 American Family Act
The American Family Act would expand the Child Tax Credit (CTC) for low- and middle-income families. The CTC would increase from $2,000 under current law to $3,000 for each child age six and older and to $3,600 for each child younger than age six. The proposal removes limits on the refundable part of the credit so that low- and moderate-income families with children could receive the entire credit.
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report May 22, 2019 Working Families Tax Relief Act
The Working Families Tax Relief Act would expand the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Child Tax Credit (CTC) for low- and middle-income families.
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report May 22, 2019 LIFT the Middle Class Act
The LIFT (Livable Incomes for Families Today) the Middle Class Act would create a new tax credit of up to $3,000 for single people and up to $6,000 for married couples, which would be an addition to existing tax credits. Eligible taxpayers would be allowed a credit equal to the maximum amount or their earnings, whichever is less. Income limits would prevent well-off households from receiving the credit.
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report May 22, 2019 Rise Credit
The Rise Credit would replace the existing EITC. In most cases, the Rise Credit would be $4,000 for single people and $8,000 for married couples. Eligible taxpayers would be allowed a credit equal to the maximum amount or their earnings, whichever is less.
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report April 17, 2019 The Case for Extending State-Level Child Tax Credits to Those Left Out: A 50-State Analysis
As of 2017, 11.5 million children in the United States were living in poverty. A national, fully-refundable Child Tax Credit (CTC) would effectively address persistently high child poverty rates at the national and state levels. The federal CTC in its current form falls short of achieving this goal due to its earnings requirement and lack of full refundability. Fortunately, states have options to make state-level improvements in the absence of federal policy change. A state-level CTC is a tool that states can employ to remedy inequalities created by the current structure of the federal CTC. State-level CTCs would significantly reduce child poverty and deep poverty in all states while also addressing racial inequities that the current system has exacerbated. This report examines the poverty impacts, costs and beneficiaries of two options for a state-level CTC.
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report February 14, 2019 The Illusion of Race-Neutral Tax Policy
It is well known that the bulk of the federal tax cuts flowed to the highest-earning households, who received the largest tax cut both in terms of real dollars and also as a share of income. But as our analysis with Prosperity Now reveals, solely examining the tax law in the context of class misses a bigger-picture story about how the nation’s public policies not only perpetuate widening income and wealth inequality, they also preserve historic and current injustices that continue to allow white communities to build wealth while denying the same level of opportunity (and often suppressing it) to communities of color.