Ohio
Gas Taxes Rise in a Dozen States, Including an Historic Increase in Illinois
• By Carl Davis
On July 1, 12 states will boost their gasoline taxes and 11 will boost their diesel taxes. The reasons for these increases vary, but they’re generally intended to fund maintenance and improvement of our nation’s transportation infrastructure–a job at which Congress has not excelled in recent years.
Most States Have Raised Gas Taxes in Recent Years
• By Carl Davis
Ohio now enjoys the distinction of being the 30th state to raise or reform its gas tax this decade, and the third state to do so this year, under a bill signed into law by Gov. Mike DeWine. While state tax policy can be a contentious topic, there has been a remarkable level of agreement on the gasoline tax. Increasingly, state lawmakers are deciding that outdated gas taxes need to be raised and reformed to…
State Rundown 6/19: Juneteenth Highlights Role of State Policy in Racial Equity Fight
• By ITEP Staff
As Americans observe Juneteenth today–the day two years after the Emancipation Proclamation on which news of the end of the Civil War and slavery reached some of the last slaves in Texas—most people’s attention should be on celebrating victories, remembering losses, gathering strength to continue the fight for racial justice, and the accompanying Congressional reparations hearings. In comparison, state tax debates over matters such as reluctance to invest in infrastructure in Michigan and Missouri, approval of income tax cuts in Wisconsin, and a budget standoff in New Jersey may seem…
State Rundown 6/12: Progress in Taxing the Rich, Expanding EITCs, and Taming Tax Subsidies
• By ITEP Staff
This week saw lawmakers in Ohio propose significant harmful tax cuts, leaders in California and Oregon work toward strengthening the state Earned Income Tax Credits (EITCs), and governors in Missouri and Kansas declare a truce to end the practice of bribing businesses in the Kansas City area with tax cuts to move from one side of the state line to the other. Meanwhile, Massachusetts leaders are discussing ways of raising taxes on their richest households,…
Taxing the Rich Works
• By Dylan Grundman O'Neill
States are putting evidence into practice with multiple efforts to improve services and tax codes through more progressive taxes on the wealthy. Clear evidence has spread widely this year, informing a national conversation about progressive taxation and leading lawmakers in multiple states to eschew supply-side superstition and act on real evidence instead. Taxing the rich works, and in this Just Taxes blog we review state-level efforts to put these proven findings into effect.
State Rundown 6/5: Illinois Gets Busy
• By ITEP Staff
Illinois made big news in several tax and budget areas recently, including sending a graduated income tax amendment to voters in 2020, as well as legalizing and taxing cannabis and updating gas and cigarette taxes for infrastructure improvements. Connecticut made smaller waves with sales tax reforms, a plastic bag tax, and a progressive mansion tax. Property tax credits were proposed in both Maine and New Jersey. And Nevada extended a business tax to give teachers…
Tax Credit Wins and Continued Debates in the States
• By Aidan Davis
Income inequality continues to be an undercurrent in public discourse about our economy and how working families are faring. It drove the national debate over the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which, mounds of data reveal has exacerbated the problem. Some elected federal officials have responded to this step backward with calls for higher […]
Policy Matters Ohio: Refundability Now
• By ITEP Staff
The federal credit is so effective that 29 states, including Ohio, have used it as a model for their own EITCs, calculating the state credit’s value as a percentage of the federal one. However, Ohio’s credit leaves out the most important part: refundability.
State Rundown 5/29: In Taxes and Television, Endings Can Be Hard
• By ITEP Staff
Like certain recent controversially concluded television shows, tax and budget debates can end in many ways and often receive mixed reviews. Illinois leaders, for example, ended on a cliffhanger by approving a historic constitutional amendment to create a graduated income tax in the state, whose ultimate conclusion will be crowdsourced by voters next November. Arizona’s fiscal finale fell flat with many observers due to corner-cutting on needed investments and a heavy focus on tax cuts.…
The Columbus Dispatch: Business Groups Pushing to Save Tax Breaks for Richest Ohioans
May 25, 2019
Policy Matters says the analysis, completed by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, found that virtually all of the Ohio tax filers who would pay more under the overall House plan are among the top 5% of Ohio taxpayers, making over $208,000. Read more
Akron Beacon Journal: A $1 Billion State Tax Break Still Worth Shrinking
May 24, 2019
What does the House propose? It would reduce the exemption to the first $100,000 in “pass through” income and wipe out the special 3 percent tax rate. That would save $528 million a year. It would do so without affecting 86 percent of those claiming the exemption. Who would see a change? Policy Matters Ohio […]
State Rundown 5/22: (Some) State Lawmakers Can (Partly) Relax This Weekend
• By ITEP Staff
Lawmakers and advocates can enjoy their barbeques with only one eye on their work email this weekend in states that have essentially finished their budget debates such as Alaska, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Oklahoma, though both Alaska and Minnesota require special sessions to wrap things up. Getting to those barbeques may be a bumpy ride in Louisiana, Michigan, and other states still working to modernize outdated and inadequate gas taxes.
Gas Taxes Have Gone Up in Most States, but Decades-Long Procrastinators Remain
• By Carl Davis
The upcoming Memorial Day weekend marks the start of the traditional summer driving season. In most states, summer road-trippers are paying more gas tax than they did a few years ago and are benefiting from smoother and safer roads as a result. In total, 30 states have raised or reformed their gas taxes in the last six years.
State Rundown 5/16: Tensions Remain High Over Budgets and School Finances in Several States
• By ITEP Staff
Tax and budget negotiations remain at standstills in Louisiana and Minnesota, as school funding debates and teacher protests again captured headlines in several states. Oregon lawmakers, for example, finally passed a mixed-bag tax package that won’t improve tax equity but will raise much-needed revenue for education. Meanwhile their counterparts in Nebraska continue to debate highly […]
Policy Matters Ohio: The Good and the Bad in the House Tax Plan
• By ITEP Staff
The tax plan approved by the Ohio House last week would sharply limit an income-tax break for business owners that costs more than $1 billion a year while providing few benefits to the Ohio economy. At the same time, it would eliminate the bottom two brackets of the income tax and cut rates by 6.6%. […]
WBNS Ohio: Expert explains why Ohio gas prices can fluctuate so quickly
May 12, 2019
Ohio is now the 30th state to raise or reform its gas tax this decade, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP). Starting July 1, 2019, a 10.5 cent gas tax and 19 cent diesel tax increase will take effect with the purpose of fixing deteriorating roads and bridges around the state. […]
State Rundown 5/9: Illinois Moves Closer to a Progressive Income Tax
• By ITEP Staff
Lawmakers in Illinois and Ohio have advanced major tax proposals but cannot rest just yet, as they must still get past the other legislative chamber. Their counterparts in Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Oregon, meanwhile, are all at impasses over education funding, as those in Texas left their school funding disagreement unresolved at least until they reconvene...in 2021. And in an era of many states pre-empting smaller jurisdictions by revoking local decision-making powers, leaders in Colorado…
State Rundown 5/1: Teacher Uprisings Continue on May Day
• By ITEP Staff
Teachers in North Carolina and South Carolina are walking out and rallying this week for increased education funding, teacher and staff pay, and other improvements to benefit students—if you’re unsure why be sure to check out research on the teacher shortage and pay gap under “What We’re Reading” below. Meanwhile, budget debates have recently wrapped up in Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Washington. And major tax debates are kicking into high gear in both…
Bloomberg: Gas Tax for Infrastructure Sparks Fears of Political Backlash
May 1, 2019
Some 30 states have raised their fuel taxes since 2003 -- including Republican-led Ohio, Arkansas and Alabama this year -- according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. States tack on an average tax of nearly 29 cents per gallon, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
New York Times: Profitable Giants Like Amazon Pay $0 in Corporate Taxes. Some Voters Are Sick of It.
April 29, 2019
The list of profitable companies that pay no corporate taxes, compiled by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a left-leaning think tank, also includes Goodyear and three other Ohio companies, including the Akron-based electric utility FirstEnergy. The company, which has the naming rights to the Cleveland Browns’ stadium, paid no taxes last year on $1.5 billion in income, according to the analysis, and will receive additional tax credits that can be used in the…
ICYMI: A Brief Summary of Our April Blogs and Reports
• By ITEP Staff
From the first comprehensive look at corporate filings under the 2017 tax law to bold policy options from analysts and researchers to dramatically reduce poverty, here’s a summary of reports that ITEP released this month.
The Case for Extending State-Level Child Tax Credits to Those Left Out: A 50-State Analysis
• By Aidan Davis, Meg Wiehe
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…
State Rundown 4/4: Ohio Gas Tax and Maryland Minimum Wage Get Needed Updates
• By ITEP Staff
Transportation funding was a hot topic this week, as OHIO lawmakers responsibly voted to update their gas tax and offset some of its impact on lower-income families with an Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) boost, while NEW YORK enacted the nation’s first “congestion pricing” charge, and LOUISIANA and VIRGINIA leaders looked at gas tax updates as well—a trend ITEP’s Carl Davis explored in depth today here. Broad tax packages are also being hashed out in LOUISIANA,…
State Rundown 3/27: Spring Bringing Smart State Tax Policy So Far
• By ITEP Staff
Though a long winter and a rough start to spring weather have wreaked havoc in much of the country, lawmakers are off to a good start in the world of state fiscal policy so far. In the last week, a progressive revenue package was passed in the nick of time in NEW MEXICO, a service-sapping tax cut was vetoed in KANSAS, and a regressive and unsustainable tax shift was soundly defeated in NORTH DAKOTA. Meanwhile, gas tax updates…
Policy Matters Ohio: Senate Transportation Budget Zeroes Out Public Transit, Slightly Improves EITC
• By ITEP Staff
Last week, the Ohio Senate took a leap backwards by removing $100 million for public transit from the Transportation Budget allocated by the Ohio House of Representatives. They also took small steps to otherwise improve equity by expanding Ohio’s Earned Income Tax Credit. Read more
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