Budget deliberations continue in earnest this week in Alaska, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island. In South Dakota and Utah, the focus is on gearing up for ballot initiative efforts to raise needed revenue, though be sure to read about legislators nullifying voter-approved initiatives in Maine and elsewhere in our “what we’re reading” section.
Pennsylvania
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blog August 2, 2017 State Rundown 8/2: Legislative Tax Debates Wind Down as Ballot Initiative Efforts Ramp Up
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July 20, 2017 Trump Tax Proposals Would Provide Richest One Percent in Pennsylvania with 50.2 Percent of the State’s Tax Cuts
Earlier this year, the Trump administration released some broadly outlined proposals to overhaul the federal tax code. Households in Pennsylvania would not benefit equally from these proposals. The richest one percent of the state’s taxpayers are projected to make an average income of $1,780,400 in 2018.
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blog July 19, 2017 State Rundown 7/19: Handful of States Still Have Their Hands Full with Tax and Budget Debates
Tax and budget debates drag on in several states this week, as lawmakers continue to work in Alaska, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin. And a showdown is brewing in Kentucky between a regressive tax shift effort and a progressive tax reform plan. Be sure to also check out our “What We’re Reading” section for a historical perspective on federal tax reform, a podcast on lessons learned from Kansas and California, and more!
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blog July 11, 2017 State Rundown 7/11: Some Legislatures Get Long Holiday Weekends, Others Work Overtime
Illinois and New Jersey made national news earlier this month after resolving their contentious budget stalemates. But they weren’t the only states working through (and in some cases after) the holiday weekend to resolve budget issues.
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blog June 28, 2017 State Rundown 6/28: States Scramble to Finish Budgets Before July Deadlines
This week, several states attempt to wrap up their budget debates before new fiscal years (and holiday vacations) begin in July. Lawmakers reached at least short-term agreement on budgets in Alaska, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont, but such resolution remains elusive in Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Wisconsin.
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blog May 17, 2017 Investors and Corporations Would Profit from a Federal Private School Voucher Tax Credit
A new report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) and AASA, the School Superintendents Association, details how tax subsidies that funnel money toward private schools are being… -
report May 17, 2017 Public Loss Private Gain: How School Voucher Tax Shelters Undermine Public Education
One of the most important functions of government is to maintain a high-quality public education system. In many states, however, this objective is being undermined by tax policies that redirect public dollars for K-12 education toward private schools.
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ITEP Work in Action April 6, 2017 Keystone Research Center: Who Pays for Property Tax Elimination?
Across all Pennsylvania families, property tax elimination would increase taxes by $334 per family. While property taxes would fall by an average of $1,685 per family, sales and income taxes… -
ITEP Work in Action March 23, 2017 Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center: The Fair Share Tax to Support Public Investment in Pennsylvania
This paper puts forward a plan, which we call the Fair Share Tax, that would take a major step toward fixing Pennsylvania’s broken tax system and raise the revenues we… -
ITEP Work in Action January 10, 2017 Third and State: Undocumented Immigrants Already Paying Billions in State/Local Taxes
Just this week, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy released a comprehensive report on the state and local tax contributions of undocumented immigrants. In the public debate about immigration… -
ITEP Work in Action January 10, 2017 Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center: Who Pays For An Increase in the PIT to 4% on Income From Wealth
Legislators are currently working to find the revenues necessary to fund the appropriations bill that passed the House and Senate this week. They are finding it difficult to agree on… -
ITEP Work in Action January 6, 2017 Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center: A Fair Share Tax Plan for Pennsylvania
“One barrier to raising revenues is the reluctance of legislators on both sides of the aisle to place additional taxes on Pennsylvania’s poor and middle-class. That reluctance is well motivated.… -
media mention January 3, 2017 Lancaster Online: Pennsylvania think tanks battle over remedies for $1.7B state budget deficit
“The Budget and Policy Center blames the deficit on reductions in corporate taxes enacted under Govs. Ed Rendell and Tom Corbett. The state’s top taxpayers are getting a bargain, the… -
media mention October 14, 2016 CBS News: Is your state next to raise its gas tax?
“’There has been a lot of procrastination,’ said Carl Davis, research director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. ‘It’s an issue that the states cannot put off any… -
media mention July 18, 2016 The Hill: Airbnb collecting taxes on convention rentals
Airbnb is collecting taxes on rentals during the political party conventions in Cleveland and Philadelphia, according to a tax analyst. Carl Davis, research director at the Institute on Taxation and… -
media mention June 10, 2016 The Inquirer: Baer: Four ways to make Pa. taxes fairer
“Worse, our PIT is largely responsible for our national ranking by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy as the sixth most regressive tax state.” Read more -
media mention May 12, 2016 Politifact: Rating the Philly Daily News’ claim that ‘It’s not a grocery tax’
“Carl Davis, research director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said it was possible the prices of other products would rise but not probable in most circumstances. He… -
media mention May 9, 2016 The Inquirer: Proposed Philly soda tax gets wide attention
“Carl Davis, research director at the Washington-based Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said that’s one of the key reasons people are watching Philadelphia. “Both sides argue using limited data,”… -
ITEP Work in Action April 11, 2016 Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center: PA Should Raise Needed Revenues in Fair Ways: Short- and Long-term Approaches to Fixing Pennsylvania’s Unfair Tax System
This briefing paper analyzes several options for raising revenue for the Pennsylvania state budget which would fall much less on middle- and low-income families than the existing Pennsylvania state… -
media mention December 14, 2015 Newsworks: Pa. sales tax can be expanded in an equitable way
“A third group was rightly concerned that the sales tax places too much of a burden on those with low incomes. According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy,… -
ITEP Work in Action December 7, 2015 Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center: Expanding the Sales Tax in an Equitable Way
“There is good reason to worry about the sales tax falling heavily on low-income families. According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, the lowest-income 20% of Pennsylvania families… -
ITEP Work in Action November 30, 2015 Third and State: Unintended Consequences? Property Tax Elimination Increases Taxes on the Middle Class to Reduce Taxes for High Income Families
“Let’s start with the impact of property tax elimination on different groups of taxpayers. While we have not examined the tax incidence of the current SB 76 bill, the Institute… -
ITEP Work in Action November 18, 2015 Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center: Who Pays For An Increase in the Sales Tax: Analysis of the Tax Incidence of an Increase in the Sales Tax from 6% to 7.25%
Gov. Wolf and legislative leaders are currently negotiating over the terms of a plan to cut property taxes which would be financed by an increase in the state sales tax… -
media mention July 13, 2015 Cheat Sheet: 10 Worst States in America for Fair Tax Systems
Americans generally believe that higher income households should pay a greater percentage of their incomes in taxes than lower income households. Yet the exact opposite occurs. The Institute on Taxation… -
media mention July 6, 2015 Huffington Post: How Some States Are Trying To Fix Their Crumbling Infrastructure
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…