Alaska
USA Today: These states will hike gas taxes ahead of record 4th of July travel
June 30, 2016
“Despite the fluctuations, most states have also gone years without changing their rates, according to a study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Sixteen states have gone at least two decades without a gas-tax increase, according to the study. Five of those states have seen an increase since at least the 1980s: Alaska, […]
An updated version of this report has been published with data through July 1, 2017. Read this Policy Brief in PDF form Many states’ transportation budgets are in disarray, in part because they are trying to cover the rising cost of asphalt, machinery, and other construction materials with a gasoline tax rate that is rarely […]
KTOO Public Media: Report: Walker’s budget proposals hit poorest Alaskans hardest
April 19, 2016
“If every element of Gov. Bill Walker’s fiscal plan is adopted, the 20 percent of Alaskans with the lowest incomes would lose nearly 10 percent of their income. The middle fifth of residents would lose about 4 percent. The top 1 percent of state residents would only see a 1.3 percent pay cut. That’s according […]
Alaska Public Radio: Poorest Alaskans hit hardest by new proposed budget solutions
April 15, 2016
“If every element of Governor Bill Walker’s current fiscal plan is adopted, low income Alaskans would lose nearly 10 percent of their income, middle-income residents would lose about 4 percent. But the top 1 percent of state residents would only see a 1.3 percent cut. That’s according to a report by the nonpartisan Institute on […]
Politico: Boy, that (de)escalated quickly
April 15, 2016
“ALASKAN FOUNDATION EDUCATES ON THE GREAT NORTHERN OILY BUDGET CRISIS: Leaders of the Rasmuson Foundation, one of the nation’s largest charities, are in Washington this week filling in federal policymakers about its Plan4Alaska campaign, which attempts to get state legislators on board for a solution to the $3.5 billion budget shortfall that the state is […]
Alaska Dispatch News: Governor’s budget plan would hurt low- and middle-income Alaskans, says new report
April 15, 2016
“The Rasmuson report, from a nonpartisan Washington, D.C.-based think tank, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said the balance of budget fixes should be different. The report recommends scaling back the dividend cut and introducing a steeper personal income tax.” Read more
Distributional Analyses of Revenue Options for Alaska
April 13, 2016 • By Aidan Davis, Carl Davis
Alaskans are faced with a stark fiscal reality. Following the discovery of oil in the 1960s and 1970s, state lawmakers repealed their personal income tax and began funding government primarily through oil tax and royalty revenues. For decades, oil revenues filled roughly 90 percent of the state's general fund.
Alaska Dispatch News: It’s time for Alaskans to put skin in the game, fund government through taxes
April 8, 2016
“At a rate of 1.5% of taxable income, an Alaska couple with one child, with a household income of $60,000 a year, would pay about $200 a year, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.” Read more
USA Today: Study: 58,000 U.S. bridges found to be ‘structurally deficient’
February 22, 2016
“The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy counts nine states seriously considering motor fuel tax increases: Alabama, Alaska, California, Hawaii, Indiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, and South Carolina. “Most of the gas tax increases under discussion right now would help restore at least some of the purchasing power they lost while being frozen in time […]
Tulsa World: Julie DelCour: Measuring Up: ‘DOTs’ hope for a ‘Road to Damascus’ moment
February 22, 2016
“Last year, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy reported that 20 states have gone a decade or more without an increase in their gasoline tax rate; 15 states had gone two decades or more. And five states, including Oklahoma, had not seen an increase in their gasoline tax rate since the 1980s or earlier. […]
Many states' transportation budgets are in disarray, in part because they are trying to cover the rising cost of asphalt, machinery, and other construction materials with a gasoline tax rate that is rarely increased. A growing number of states have recognized the problem with this approach and have switched to a "variable-rate" gas tax under which the tax rate tends to rise over time alongside either inflation or gas prices. A majority of Americans live in a state where the gas tax is automatically adjusted in this way.
Testimony before the Vermont Senate Committee on Finance: Tax Policy Issues with Legalized Retail Marijuana
January 19, 2016 • By Carl Davis
Thank you for the opportunity to testify on the tax policy issues associated with legalized retail marijuana. Our testimony includes five parts: 1. An overview of the marijuana tax rates and structures that exist in the four states (Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington) where retail marijuana can be legally sold. 2. An analysis of early stage revenue trends in the two states (Colorado and Washington) where legal, taxable sales of retail marijuana have been taking place since 2014. 3. A discussion of issues associated with different types of marijuana tax bases--specifically weight-based taxes, price-based taxes, and hybrids of these two…
CNBC: Is Your State a Gas Tax Winner–Or Loser?
July 22, 2015
As states from Connecticut to California scramble to find money to fix crumbling highways, Congress once again is expected this week to put a short-term patch on the nearly insolvent federal highway trust fund. To make up the shortfall, Congress has transferred more than $53 billion from other tax revenue over the past five years, […]
Huffington Post: How Some States Are Trying To Fix Their Crumbling Infrastructure
July 6, 2015
Carl Davis, research director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said efforts to raise state taxes to pay for roads and bridges exploded this year. In 2013 and 2014, four states (Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Wyoming) increased their gas taxes, while Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island indexed the gas tax to either […]
Planetizen: State Gas Tax Changes Effective July 1: Six Up; One Down
July 6, 2015
Carl Davis, Research Director of the Institute on Tax and Economic Policy (ITEP) writes where gas taxes used to fund transportation infrastructure increased, if only by decimal points, and about the aberration—the six-cent plunge in California. “The largest gas tax increases are taking place in Idaho (7 cents per gallon) and Georgia (6.7 cents for […]
Read this report in PDF form Introduction For years, academics and transportation experts have been discussing the possibility of taxing drivers for each mile they travel on the nation’s roads. This “vehicle miles traveled tax” (VMT tax) could either supplement or replace the existing gas tax as the primary method of funding transportation infrastructure. To […]
Issues with Taxing Marijuana at the State Level
May 6, 2015 • By Carl Davis, Richard Phillips
Read as a PDF. Table of Contents Introduction Why Tax Marijuana? Designing a State Tax on Marijuana How Much Revenue Would Marijuana Legalization Generate for States Factors that Could Negatively Impact Marijuana Revenue Factors that Could Positively Impact Marijuana Revenue Conclusion Endnotes Charts and Text Boxes Current Approaches to Taxing Retail Marijuana Sales How Should […]
The Spokesman-Review: Last Idaho Gas Tax Hike? 1995
April 21, 2015
The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy notes Idaho is one of 22 states that have gone more than a decade without raising its gas tax. Idaho, which last raised the tax in 1995, isn’t even in the top ten in length of time since raising the tax. Alaska has gone almost 50 years, and […]
The Seattle Times: Washington Suffers Most Regressive Tax System in the U.S.
March 4, 2015
In the latest Who Pays? report by the non-partisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, Washington state has “by far” the most regressive tax system in the nation. Poor residents here pay 16.8 percent of family income in state and local taxes while the wealthiest 1 percent pay only 2.4 percent. By comparison, the percentage […]
An updated version of this report has been published with data through July 1, 2017. Read the report in PDF form. Many states’ transportation budgets are in disarray, in part because they are trying to cover the rising cost of asphalt, machinery, and other construction materials with a gasoline tax rate that is rarely increased.1 […]
Politico Pro: Alaska’s Bill Walker under Pressure Amid Oil Price Crash
January 5, 2015
Meg Wiehe, state tax policy director at the liberal-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said it’s also necessary for Alaska to consider some sort of new tax revenue as a long-term solution. The state is “really kicking the can down the road,” she said. “I just think [Alaska’s plan] is fiscally very short-sighted because […]
Memphis Daily News: Why Are Tennesseans so Afraid of an Income Tax?
November 3, 2014
Six of the nine state states without a state income tax – Tennessee, Texas, Florida, Washington, Alaska and Nevada – have had higher than average annual unemployment rates over the last decade, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Five of the nine – Tennessee, Florida, New Hampshire, Alaska and Nevada – are […]
The gasoline tax is the single largest source of funding for transportation infrastructure in the United States, but the tax is on an unsustainable course. Sluggish gas tax revenue growth has put strain on transportation budgets at the federal and state levels, and has led to countless debates around the country about how best to pay for America's infrastructure.
Transportation Topics: Gas Tax Buying Power at All-Time Low in Some States
May 19, 2014
By Michael Fuetsch, May 19, 2014 The gasoline tax is so low and has not been raised for so long in 10 states, that the levy’s purchasing power has fallen to historic lows, a new study said. States where this has occurred are Alabama, Alaska, Delaware, Idaho, Iowa, Nebraska, New Jersey, South Carolina, Utah, and […]
The Star-Ledger: NJ’s Gas Tax Cut in Half When Adjusted for Inflation
May 19, 2014
By Alex Napoliello, May 19, 2014 New Jersey’s gas tax is at an all-time low. That may not be a surprise for those who have been following a recent proposal to raise the tax. But what may be a shock is that the state’s gas tax is almost half of what it was in 1927. […]
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