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Failed Tax-Cut Experiment (in North Carolina) Will Continue Under Final Budget Agreement, Pushes Fiscal Reckoning Down the Line
June 21, 2017 • By ITEP Staff
The final budget agreement from leaders of the House and Senate puts North Carolina on precarious fiscal footing, The tax changes that leaders agreed to—which were less a compromise and more of a decision to combine the tax cuts in both chambers’ proposals—make the cost of these tax cuts bigger than what either chamber proposed. Including the new tax cuts,approximately 80 percent of the net tax cut since 2013 will have gone to the top 20 percent. More than half of the net tax cut will go to the top 1 percent.
The GOP Health Plan Cuts Medicaid to Lower Taxes for the Richest 3 Percent
June 16, 2017 • By Alan Essig
The bill passed by the House of Representatives last month to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is the most unpopular legislation in decades. Lawmakers should reverse course and take the necessary time to put together legislation that would preserve or, better yet, improve access to health care. But this isn’t likely to happen because at its core, the American Health Care Act isn’t truly health care reform. It is tax cuts that disproportionately benefit the rich shrouded in legislative provisions that would weaken the existing health care law.
Which States Benefit from the Tax Cuts in the GOP Health Plan?
June 15, 2017 • By Steve Wamhoff
Congressional Republicans’ plans to repeal the two largest tax increases on individuals that were enacted as part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) would disproportionately benefit residents of Connecticut, New York, the District of Columbia and 10 other states. The remaining states would receive a share of the tax cuts that is less than their share of the total U.S. population.
State Rundown 6/14: Some States Wrapping Up Tax Debates, Others Looking Ahead to Next Round
June 14, 2017 • By ITEP Staff
This week lawmakers in California and Nevada resolved significant tax debates, while budget and tax wrangling continued in West Virginia, and structural revenue shortfalls were revealed in Iowa and Pennsylvania. Airbnb increased the number of states in which it collects state-level taxes to 21. We also share interesting reads on state fiscal uncertainty, the tax experiences of Alaska and Wyoming, the future of taxing robots, and more!
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.
One of the supposed selling points of the House GOP’s “Better Way” tax plan is that it will make the tax system so simple that you could do your taxes on a postcard. The reality, however, is that their promised postcard is a deception that would require numerous additional pages of worksheets to fill out. A better solution to making tax preparation simpler is called “return-free filing.” It does not just reduce your work to filling out a postcard, it could eliminate it altogether.
Sitting in the National Museum of American History in Washington, DC, hidden in the jumble of Americana like Thomas Jefferson’s desk, Michelle Obama’s inaugural gown and the ruby slippers worn in the Wizard of Oz, is a napkin with a drawing on it. Probably one of the least known exhibits in the museum, this napkin, quietly hiding behind glass lest some child wandering from a school group wipe his nose on it, has on several occasions destroyed the finances of the federal government and several state governments, most recently in Kansas.
This week, we celebrate a victory in Kansas where lawmakers rolled back Brownback's tax cuts for the richest taxpayers. Governors in West Virginia and Alaska promote compromise tax plans. Texas heads into special session and Vermont faces another budget veto, while Louisiana and New Mexico are on the verge of wrapping up. Voters in Massachusetts may soon be able to weigh in on a millionaire's tax, the California Senate passed single-payer health care, and more!
Oklahoma’s Budget Signed by Governor, but Long-Run Challenges Remain
June 2, 2017 • By Aidan Davis
On the last day of their legislative session, Oklahoma lawmakers finalized a $6.8 billion budget bill that was later signed by Gov. Mary Fallin. In the governor's statement on the bill, she noted that state agencies will be hard hit by the agreement--"it leaves many agencies facing cuts for the sixth year in a row"--and that while it does include some recurring revenue, it does not address the state's long-run structural budget challenges.
A truly populist budget would seek to ensure that middle- and low-income families have the resources that they need to get ahead, that the wealthy and corporations are paying their fair share in taxes, and that our country is making the public investments we need to ensure full employment and improve productivity over the long term. The Congressional Progressive Caucus’s (CPC) 2018 budget proposal would make real progress on all of these fronts.
State Rundown 5/31: Budget Woes Spurring Special Legislative Sessions
May 31, 2017 • By ITEP Staff
This week, special legislative sessions featuring tax and budget debates are underway or in the works in Kentucky, Minnesota, New Mexico, and West Virginia, as lawmakers are also running up against regular session deadlines in Illinois, Kansas, and Oklahoma. Meanwhile, a legislative study in Wyoming and an independent analysis in New Jersey are both calling for tax increases to overcome budget shortfalls.
Avocado Toast, iPhones, Billionairesplaining and the Trump Budget
May 30, 2017 • By Jenice Robinson
A couple weeks ago, a billionaire set the Internet ablaze when on 60 Minutes Australia he chided millennials to stop buying avocado toast and fancy coffee if they wanted to buy a home. The backlash was swift and deserved. Twenty- and early thirty-something people rightly took offense to the suggestion that they haven’t purchased homes […]
Besides Eviscerating the Safety Net, Trump Budget Would Put States in a Fiscal Bind
May 26, 2017 • By Misha Hill
There has been considerable discussion about the human impact of the Trump budget’s draconian cuts to what remains of the social safety net. A long-standing conservative talking point in response to such criticism is that states can pick up the tab when federal dollars disappear. But at a time when many states are facing budget shortfalls and the effect of federal tax reform is yet to be determined, it is outlandish to suggest that states are flush with cash to make up for federal spending reductions.
The Cost Of Trickle-Down Economics For North Carolina
May 26, 2017 • By ITEP Staff
Since 2013, state lawmakers have passed significant income tax cuts that largely benefit the state’s highest income earners and profitable corporations. These costly tax cuts have made the state’s tax system more upside-down by delivering the greatest income tax cuts to the state’s highest income taxpayers, while maintaining a heavier tax load on low- and […]
Congressional Hearing Highlights Problems with the Border Adjustment Tax
May 25, 2017 • By Richard Phillips
The debate over the so-called border adjustment tax (or BAT) took center stage this week when the House Ways and Means Committee held its first hearing on the topic. Despite strong support by the House Republican leadership and the Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Kevin Brady, the proposal faced an onslaught of criticism during the hearing from invited witnesses and members of both parties.
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