Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP)

Oregon

Washington Post: A (very) brief history of the state gas tax on its 95th birthday

February 25, 2014

(Original Post) BY NIRAJ CHOKSHI February 25 at 2:41 pm Nearly a century ago today, Oregon implemented a novel policy idea that’s since become a national mainstay: It became the first state to implement a gas tax. But with the tax on its last legs, it may also be the state that figures out how […]

The Garden Island: Licensed to drive

February 3, 2014

(Original Post) Bill would allow undocumented residents to acquire driver’s license Posted: Monday, February 3, 2014 2:00 am Tom LaVenture – The Garden Island LIHUE — Proposed legislation would amend state requirements to allow undocumented residents to qualify for a driver’s license in the interest of public safety, identification and insurance coverage. The “Safe and […]

NHPR: N.H. Legislators Will Make Another Run At Raising Gas Tax

January 22, 2014

(Original Post) By BRIAN WALLSTIN A year after failing to agree on how to pay for a long list of road and bridge improvements, lawmakers will take another shot at bolstering the state’s chronically underfunded infrastructure this session. Several bills are on the table, including one that would channel proceeds from a casino into the […]

Al Jazeera America: America’s crumbling infrastructure desperately needs funding

January 17, 2014

(Original Post) by Patrick J. Natale January 17, 2014 Congress should act now to avoid a transportation fiscal cliff in 2015 Last month, Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon) introduced the Update, Promote and Develop America’s Transportation Essentials (UPDATE) Act. The proposed bill lays out a clear roadmap on how to restore and modernize America’s surface transportation […]

The Oregonian: 5 common myths about Oregon taxes

December 30, 2013

(Original Post) By Christian Gaston | [email protected]  Email the author | Follow on Twitter  on December 28, 2013 at 9:00 AM, updated December 30, 2013 at 10:06 AM Email Get top news in your inbox every morning. Sign up for email updates here. Sponsored Link  Oregon’s tax system is a cobbled-together mess. Property tax rules […]

The Economist: How can America pay for its roads?

October 15, 2013

(Original Post) Oct 14th 2013, 23:50 by T.N. | LOS ANGELES THE fuel efficiency of American vehicles has shot up in recent years, thanks to a blend of government mandates, environmental concerns and consumer fashion. By 2025 new vehicles must, by law, run at an average efficiency of 54.5 miles per gallon. That is good […]

Oregon Center for Public Policy: A Grandly Flawed Bargain

September 26, 2013

The revenue package that Governor Kitzhaber has presented to the Oregon legislature to consider in a special session starting September 30 suffers from three major flaws: revenue shrinks after the current budget period, it’s mainly a tax cut for some of Oregon’s wealthiest 1 percent, and it won’t create any jobs, despite what its proponents […]

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State Tax Codes As Poverty Fighting Tools

September 19, 2013 • By Meg Wiehe

New Census Bureau data released this month show that the share of Americans living in poverty remains high, despite other signs of economic recovery. The national 2012 poverty rate of 15 percent is essentially unchanged since 2010 , but still 2.5 percentage points higher than pre-recession levels. This means that in 2012, 46.5 million, or about 1 in 6 Americans, lived in poverty.1 The poverty rate in most states also held steady with five states experiencing an increase in either the number or share of residents living in poverty while only two states saw a decline.2

The Oregonian: Unions and taxes- A combustible issue with readers

August 12, 2013

My Wednesday post about the latest tax proposals from Our Oregon -- a political group closely associated with the state's public employee unions -- has drawn more comments than almost any other story on Oregonlive.

The Davis Enterprise: Snippets of energy news

August 1, 2013

Back in the old days, when you went to the movies, theaters often would show a double feature, and these two movies would be preceded by a cartoon and a newsreel. The double feature is long gone, as is the cartoon, and the newsreel has been replaced with about 20 minutes of previews of coming attractions and, if you get there early enough, a bunch of advertisements.

OPB: Undocumented Immigrants In Oregon Paid About $94 Million In Taxes

July 15, 2013

(Original Post) OPB | July 12, 2013 3:38 p.m. | Portland, Oregon A new national report indicates that undocumented immigrants in Oregon paid about $94 million in state and local taxes in 2010. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy findings are based on figures from the 2010 U.S. Census and the Pew Research Hispanic […]

Stateline: Immigration Overhaul Could Bring States, Localities $2 Billion a Year

July 10, 2013

(Original Post)   By Daniel C. Vock, Staff Writer Fiso Kilifi of western Samoa stands for the Pledge of Allegiance during the ceremony to become a U.S. citizen. (AP) States and localities could collect an extra $2 billion a year in taxes from immigrants—on top of $10.6 billion they get already—if Congress overhauls the country’s […]

Bloomberg Businessweek: Electric-Car Owners Get Taxed for Not Paying Gas Taxes

June 10, 2013

(Original Post) By Alison VekshinJune 06, 2013 Hugh Joyce, a contractor in Richmond, Va., owns three plug-in cars, and like many green-car evangelists, he’s unabashed about his love for them—especially his new $80,000 Tesla (TSLA) Model S. It’s “the most important vehicle since the Model T,” he says. “It’s the first electric car with a […]

The American Prospect: You’ve Got Sales Tax

May 6, 2013

(Original Post) Jeff Saginor May 6, 2013 The Marketplace Fairness Act, which would finally require online retailers to charge sales tax, is hitting the Senate floor this week. In 1984, CompuServe launched the first “Electronic Mall,” a Pleistocene-era Amazon with which owners of a TRS-80 personal computer could browse and buy goods over the Internet. […]

Oregon Center for Public Policy: The Misguided “Small Business Tax Cut”

April 30, 2013

The desire to help small business owners is understandable, as they are an important component of our economy and communities. However, the granting of preferential tax treatment for people reporting “business income,” as some lawmakers are considering under a banner of “helping small business,” is a terribly misguided idea. Read the Full Report

MSN News: Two-thirds of Americans oppose gas tax hikes

April 24, 2013

(Original Post) According to Gallup, Americans may object to increasing gas prices while the economy is still unstable. By Douglas Newcomb As state legislatures across the U.S. debate whether to raise gas taxes to repair crumbling roads, a new Gallup poll finds that two-thirds of Americans would vote against gas tax hikes in their home […]

The Motley Fool: The 7 States With the Lowest Gasoline Taxes

April 22, 2013

(Original Post) The price of gasoline is constantly on people’s minds. The prices you see on those gas-station signs everywhere you drive are tough enough to swallow, but what you may not know is the extent to which gas taxes contribute to those prices. The federal tax is $0.184 per gallon, and states add their […]

The Times-Picayune: Behind Jindal’s tax plan, an old debate that still rages

April 8, 2013

(Original Post) By Andrew Vanacore, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune In pushing for an end to income taxes in Louisiana, Gov. Bobby Jindal is calling upon an economic theory about taxes and economic growth that is almost four decades old. So you might assume the case for or against “supply-side” or “trickle-down” economics would be about […]

Steamboat Pilot and Today: Steamboat joins growing group of cities looking to grow their stake in the outdoor manufacturing industry

March 11, 2013

(Original Post) By Scott Franz Sunday, March 10, 2013 There’s nothing modest about Outdoor Retailer’s winter trade show in Salt Lake City. #For four days in January, the downtown Salt Palace Convention Center becomes a dizzying labyrinth of booths manned by the world’s most famous outdoor manufacturers. #It’s a place where a large SmartWool banner […]

The Austinist: Texas Economy Trails Slowly Behind Income Tax States

March 11, 2013

(Original Post) A new report just released by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy shows the Lone Star State economy lagging far behind states that have income taxes. Reviewing economic data over the past decade In measures of growth per capita, median household income growth, and average annual unemployment rates, the study show Texas […]

WFAE: As N.C. Considers Tax Overhaul, How Does Current System Work?

February 21, 2013

(Original Post) By Michael Tomsic     Governor Pat McCrory and state lawmakers are considering major changes to North Carolina’s tax structure. So we decided to take a closer look at a report released Wednesday detailing the effective tax rates currently in place. It’s from the liberal-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy in Washington, D.C. […]

Statesman Journal: Examine land value taxation as solution to property tax problems

February 4, 2013

Written by Kris Nelson Commentary The flaws in Oregon’s property tax structure have begun to receive widespread attention. The tax rate limitations and use of taxable assessments emanating from Measures 5 and 50 have resulted in economic distortions and disparities in tax bills among property owners. Our previous study of the cumulative effects of Measure […]

Montgomery Advertiser: Alabama’s tax system among most regressive in nation, says report

January 30, 2013

State not alone: ‘Virtually every state’s tax system is fundamentally unfair’ Written by Brian Lyman Jan. 30, 2013 11:17 AM,   | Alabama’s tax system ranks as one of the ten most regressive in the country, according to a report issued Wednesday by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a non-partisan think tank based in […]

Chicago Magazine: Illinois- The Fourth Most Regressive Taxes in America

January 30, 2013

(Original Post) Posted today at 11:21 a.m.By Whet Moser  One of the ongoing complaints about Illinois’s tax system—besides general complaints about it being too high for everything—is its prairie flatness, which is unusual among states. One complaint is that it hits low-income taxpayers hardest (Naomi Jakobsson, D-Urbana, has proposed a graduated tax); the other is […]

The Hill: State tax systems regressive

January 30, 2013

(Original Post) By Bernie Becker – 01/30/13 07:02 AM ET Practically every state charges a higher share of taxes from lower- and middle-class families than the highest earners, a new study from a liberal-leaning group found. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that the bottom 20 percent of earners paid an effective tax […]