Virginia

State governors are beginning to lay out their top priorities as legislatures reconvene in statehouses around the country.

As we kick off a new year, several states are facing revenue shortfalls. Some lawmakers are approaching the challenge with sustainable and equitable solutions.

property tax debates are taking place throughout the nation.

States are increasingly facing difficult choices as revenues stagnate and deficits come clearer into focus.

Lawmakers in two more states have wisely said “no thank you” to federal tax cuts that would have flowed through to their state tax codes and undermined funding for their priorities

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. 

Some states are trying to avoid revenue loss while others are welcoming it and doubling down.

Nearly two-thirds of states now have an Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Momentum continues to build on these credits that boost low-paid workers’ incomes and offset some of the taxes they pay, helping lower-income families achieve greater economic security.

The Trump megabill hands the richest 1% a trillion-dollar windfall while gutting funding for health care, education, and disaster relief — leaving communities to pick up the pieces. State and local leaders must step up, tax the wealthiest fairly, and safeguard the essentials that keep America healthy, educated, and safe.

Federal policy choices on tariffs, taxes, and spending cuts will be deeply felt by all states, which will have less money available to fund key priorities. This year some states raised revenue to ensure that their coffers were well-funded, some proceeded with warranted caution, and many others passed large regressive tax cuts that pile on to the massive tax cuts the wealthiest just received under the federal megabill.

Refundable tax credits were a big part of state tax policy conversations this year. In 2025, nine states improved or created Child Tax Credits or Earned Income Tax Credits.

Sales tax holidays are often marketed as relief for everyday families, but they do little to address the deeper inequities of regressive sales taxes. In 2025, 18 states offer these holidays at a collective cost of $1.3 billion.

While a federal SALT cap is hotly debated, capping deductibility at $10,000 was an unambiguously good idea at the state level. States would be smart to stick with the current cap or, better yet, go even farther and repeal SALT deductions outright. Going along with a higher federal SALT cap would double down on a regressive tax cut that will mostly benefit a small number of relatively wealthy state residents and cost states significant revenue.

If instead of giving $117 billion to the richest 1 percent, that money had been evenly divided among all Americans, we'd each get $343 - or nearly $1,400 for a family of four.

President Trump has signed into law the tax and spending “megabill” that largely favors the richest taxpayers and provides working-class Americans with relatively small tax cuts that will in many cases be more than offset by Trump's tariffs.

The predominant feature of the tax and spending bill working its way through Congress is a massive tax cut for the richest 1 percent — a $114 billion benefit to the wealthiest people in the country in 2026 alone.

The Senate tax bill under debate right now would bring very large tax cuts to very high-income people. In total, the richest 1 percent would receive $114 billion in tax cuts next year alone. That would amount to nearly $61,000 for each of these affluent households.

If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging. This is exactly what Louisiana Senators did when they rejected two tax-cut bills that would have created a billion-dollar shortfall in the coming fiscal years.

As the Washington, D.C. region heads toward a likely recession, local policymakers will need to look to new revenue sources to help lessen the pain. In D.C., lawmakers ought to adopt a simple reform that would raise substantial revenue and make the District’s business tax system fairer.

The poorest fifth of Americans would receive 1 percent of the House reconciliation bill's net tax cuts in 2026 while the richest fifth of Americans would receive two-thirds of the tax cuts. The richest 5 percent alone would receive a little less than half of the net tax cuts that year.