Texas
State Rundown 7/29: The Misguided, Miserly Missouri Amendment to Eliminate the Income Tax
• By ITEP Staff
Missouri voters are facing a major decision at the ballot box next week on Amendment 5, which would amend the state constitution to allow lawmakers to eliminate the individual income tax and expand the state’s sales tax on any good or service to make up for lost revenue.
State-by-State Tax Expenditure Reports
• By ITEP Staff
Below is a list of tax expenditure reports published in the states.
State Rundown 4/30: Aloha to Tax Cuts, Hawaiʻi Lawmakers Address Revenue Gap with High-End Tax Changes
• By ITEP Staff
This week Hawaiʻi lawmakers reached a compromise to balance the state budget and maintain tax cuts for most residents by, in part, raising rates on the richest Hawaiians. Other states are working to generate revenue from their wealthiest residents, too.
State Rundown 4/23: While Some States Stop Digging, Others Move Full Steam Ahead with Anti-Affordability Agendas
• By ITEP Staff
Missouri lawmakers passed legislation that will have residents vote on a proposal at the ballot box. The ask: for them to pay more in sales taxes to offset cuts – and the possible elimination – of the state's individual income tax, which makes up nearly two-thirds of Missouri’s general fund.
State Rundown 4/8: Budget and Tax Packages Take Shape as Sine Die Approaches in Many States
• By ITEP Staff
State legislative sessions are wrapping up, and final tax and budget packages are making their way to governors’ desks.
State Tax Watch 2026
• By ITEP Staff
ITEP tracks tax discussions in legislatures across the country and uses our unique data capacity to analyze the revenue, distributional, and racial and ethnic impacts of many of these proposals. State Tax Watch offers the latest news and movement from each state.
Low Tax for Whom? California vs Texas
• By Cassidy Sheppard
California Gov. Gavin Newsom went to Texas recently and claimed: “Texas taxes poor folks more than we tax our richest." He’s right.
Education Week: How Do Schools Solve a Problem Like Property Taxes?
February 19, 2026
As tax season dawns, backlash to a nationwide surge in property-tax bills is spurring states to double down on proposals to diminish one of the main revenue sources for school districts. At least 10 states are pitching the end of one of schools’ chief revenue sources. Read more.
Local Governments Are Increasingly Strapped: 2026 Will Bring New Challenges and New Opportunities
• By Kamolika Das
2025 saw an intensification of state and local tax fights across the country, as well as growing experimentation with local-option taxes, levies, fees, and tourism taxes aimed at keeping budgets afloat while also navigating political constraints imposed by state legislatures.
State Rundown 1/7: New Year, New Opportunities for Progressive Revenue
• By ITEP Staff
As we kick off a new year, several states are facing revenue shortfalls. Some lawmakers are approaching the challenge with sustainable and equitable solutions.
Every Texan: Highest Tax Rates in the State Fall on Texans of Color
• By ITEP Staff
The income groups paying the highest tax rates in Texas are disproportionately Hispanic and Black, whereas the lowest-taxed group (the wealthiest 5%) is predominantly white. Read more.
Texas Property Tax Plan Mimics California’s Damaging Prop 13
• By Neva Butkus, Rita Jefferson
This proposal would disrupt the state’s housing market and jeopardize local revenues while doing very little to help workers and families struggling to pay their property tax bills – just as Prop 13 did in California.
State Rundown 12/17: Tax Policy ‘Naughty or Nice’ List Has Late Entrants
• By ITEP Staff
With a little over a week left, some states are solidifying their spots on the tax policy “naughty or nice” list.
The Texas Tribune: Gov. Greg Abbott Wants a Tighter Lid on Home Values. Tax Policy Experts Warn That’s a Bad Idea
December 11, 2025
Gov. Greg Abbott wants to put a tighter lid on how fast property values can rise in a bid to deliver property tax relief to homeowners and businesses — but tax policy experts across the political spectrum warn the proposal wouldn’t address the root causes of higher tax bills and would backfire with severe consequences. […]
State Rundown 12/10: ‘Tis the Season to Reclaim Lost Revenue
• By ITEP Staff
property tax debates are taking place throughout the nation.
State Rundown 12/3: Property Tax Cuts and Deficits
• By ITEP Staff
States are increasingly facing difficult choices as revenues stagnate and deficits come clearer into focus.
States Are Opening a Pandora’s Box of Data Centers
• By Page Gray
State governments are rushing to offer billions of dollars in subsidies to data center construction, apparently without understanding their full costs.
State and Local Policymakers Can Resist Austerity Even Amid Historic Federal Retreat
• By Kamolika Das
The progressivity of the federal tax code has been waning. State and local policymakers should respond by protecting their revenue bases, promoting equity, and safeguarding vulnerable communities from harmful budget cuts.
In 2025, Voters Said Yes to Public Resources and Community Investments
• By Rita Jefferson
Important tax measures were on the ballot this week, and the outcomes are clear: many voters support new state and local spending to support critical services in their communities.
State Rundown 11/5: Voters Say “Yes!” to Public Investments
• By ITEP Staff
Despite being an off-year election, voters made a call for shared public investments at the polls.
The Nation: Texas Republicans Are Doubling Down on Banning Capital Gains Taxes
October 31, 2025
If passed, the constitutional amendment would lock out a potential source of future state funding and disproportionately benefit wealthy households. Read more.
State Rundown 10/27: As Temperatures Cool Tax Policy Heats Up
• By ITEP Staff
States across the nation are debating how best to respond to costly new federal tax cuts.
The Potential of Local Child Tax Credits to Reduce Child Poverty
• By Kamolika Das, Aidan Davis, Galen Hendricks, Rita Jefferson
Local governments have a critical role to play in reducing child poverty. Local Child Tax Credits could provide large tax cuts to families at the bottom of the income scale, lessening the overall regressivity of state and local tax systems.
Houston Chronicle: Texas Oil Companies Forecast Billions in Tax Breaks from Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’
September 9, 2025
The Houston oil-company Occidental Petroleum reported last month it was expecting a large tax break from President Donald Trump's tax and spending cut package known as the One Big Beautiful Bill — to the tune of $700 to $800 million over the next two years.
State Rundown 9/4: Colorado Tackles Offshore Corporate Tax Avoidance, Paves Way for State Conformity Best Practices
• By ITEP Staff
Despite an increasingly bleak state revenue outlook, state lawmakers across the country continue to prioritize regressive tax cuts.
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