Kim S. Rueben

Sol Price Fellow

Understanding and explaining the role of government is increasingly important. In the aftermath of the Great Recession, state and local governments need to reconsider what the business of governing is, and how we raise enough money to provide the services we need to build our future. This will require more transparency and discussion about what taxes buy and how we spend public funds. Policymakers at all levels need to think about these questions and how to cooperate. Our role is to help them make these decisions and explain the interactions between policy choices.

Contact

Primary tasks

Research report

Simplifying Federal Student Aid: How Do the Plans Stack Up?

There is widespread agreement that the college financial aid system is too complicated and acts as a barrier to higher education. This report focusses on how eight different simplification proposals for determining Pell grant eligibility and three alternatives for calculating Effective Family...

November 10, 2015

Kim S. Rueben Sarah Gault Sandy Baum

Brief

Simplifying Federal Student Aid: An Overview of Eight Plans

There is widespread agreement that the college financial aid system is too complicated and acts as a barrier to higher education. This brief focusses on how eight different simplification proposals for determining Pell grant eligibility and three alternatives for calculating Effective Family...

November 10, 2015

Kim S. Rueben Sarah Gault Sandy Baum

Brief

State and Local Issues

The Growth Mirage: State Tax Cuts Do Not Automatically Lead to Economic Growth

Cuts in top state income taxes are intended to raise economic growth, but could instead force punishing spending cuts, as revenues fall and states confront borrowing constraints. Previous work shows no clear impact of state taxes on growth. In new research, we build on a widely cited study that...

September 11, 2015

William G. Gale Aaron Krupkin Kim S. Rueben

Research report

State and Local Issues

Municipal Debt: What Does It Buy and Who Benefits?

This paper examines the incidence of the federal income tax exemption of interest on state and local bonds, applying a fixed-savings, simplified general equilibrium approach to estimate incidence effects on both the sources and uses of income. In contrast to traditional empirical work that...

October 29, 2014

Harvey Galper Kim S. Rueben Richard C. Auxier Amanda Eng

Brief

State and Local Issues

State Economic Monitor: July 2014

The latest edition of the Tax Policy Center's State and Local Finance Initiative's State Economic Monitor reports that states are still struggling to emerge from the lingering recession. The good news is that nearly all states experienced economic growth in 2013, and only one state has an...

July 8, 2014

Norton Francis Kim S. Rueben Richard C. Auxier

Research report

Individual Taxes

Who Benefits from Tax-Exempt Bonds?: An Application of the Theory of Tax Incidence

This paper applies tax incidence theory to estimate the distributional effects of the exemption from federal income tax of interest on state and local bonds and the President's proposal to limit the benefit of the exemption to the 28 percent rate. When one accounts for the effects of changes in...

September 27, 2013

Harvey Galper Joseph Rosenberg Kim S. Rueben Eric Toder

Brief

Individual Taxes

Finding Just the Right Tax Rate

In a contribution to the New York Times' Room for Debate, Kim Rueben argues if the tax rate for marijuana is too high, people will continue to buy weed from the guy on the street. However, setting the tax rate too low leaves revenue on the table and use might boom.

May 23, 2013

Kim S. Rueben

Research report

Individual Taxes

Analysis of Specific Tax Provisions in President Obama's FY2014 Budget

This document reviews several notable tax proposals in President Obamas Fiscal Year 2014 Budget. These include a 28 percent limit on certain tax expenditures, a cap on tax preferences for retirement savers with high balances, a minimum tax ("Buffett Rule") on high-income taxpayers, alternative...

May 7, 2013

Benjamin H. Harris James R. Nunns Kim S. Rueben Eric Toder Roberton C. Williams

Testimony

Individual Taxes

What Federal Tax Reform Means for State and Local Tax and Fiscal Policies

Kim Rueben's testimony before the Senate Finance Committee on federal tax reform and what it means for the tax and fiscal policies of states.

April 25, 2012

Kim S. Rueben

From TaxVox

Individual Taxes
Creative New Ways To Help Low-Income Families File Their Taxes
January 30, 2023 –
New mothers , families with low incomes , and immigrant parents often miss out on tax benefits by failing to file returns. But with tax...
State and Local Issues
States Can Help Reduce the Burdens of Harmful Fines and Fees. Here’s How.
September 27, 2022 –
Thanks to surging tax revenues and an unprecedented infusion of federal aid, many states cut taxes over the past two years by lowering individual income tax rates, expanding tax credits, or sending one-time checks to residents. But there is another way states can use these funds: reduce or eliminate some local criminal legal fines and fees.
State and Local Issues
What Do State Budget Officials Think About Taxes In The COVID-19 Era?
July 21, 2021 –
While state budgets are recovering along with the US economy, state fiscal policymakers remain cautious about the post COVID-19 future, according to a survey by...
State and Local Issues
State Pass-Through Entity Taxes Let Some Residents Avoid the SALT Cap at No Cost to The States
June 24, 2021 –
This week, Colorado became the 14 th state to either require or allow some pass-through businesses such as partnerships to pay state income taxes at...
State and Local Issues
Are State and Local Tax Systems Colorblind?
March 10, 2021 –
Tax policies are commonly viewed as race-neutral or “colorblind”— simply because information on race or ethnicity is not reported on tax returns or explicitly referenced...
State and Local Issues
Why States and Localities Need More Federal Aid
February 22, 2021 –
Opponents of additional federal aid to state and local governments have noted that overall state revenue declines have not been as bad as expected during...
State and Local Issues
Congress Needs to Understand State Tax Revenue Declines When Drafting COVID-19 Legislation
December 10, 2020 –
Aid for state and local governments remains a sticking point in Congressional deliberations over additional relief to address the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic...
State and Local Issues
Four Decades After Proposition 13’s Tax Revolt, Will California (Split) Roll It Back with Proposition 15?
October 26, 2020 –
On the California ballot this year is an initiative that could partially unravel what is possibly one of the most consequential ballot initiatives.
How Income Taxes Interact With Racial Disparities
January 30, 2020 –
Because the IRS does not ask for a tax filer’s race or ethnicity on tax forms, examining the relationship between race and the tax system...
State and Local Issues
Tuesday's Election Produced A More Multi-colored State Map and, Perhaps, New Fiscal Agendas
November 12, 2018 –
While it may have attracted less attention than US House and Senate races, Tuesday’s elections also resulted in shake-ups in some state capitols . And...
Trump Proposal Would Limit Green Cards And Visas For Immigrants With Low Incomes Or Government Assistance
September 28, 2018 –
On September 21 st , the Trump Administration proposed a regulation limiting access to legal permanent residency status (green cards) and other visas for immigrants...
Lessons Learned 40 Years After A Monumental Tax Law
June 21, 2018 –
Forty years ago, California voters were sent a 63-page pamphlet explaining the 13 questions on the primary ballot that June. At the end of the...
State and Local Issues
Fixing Connecticut’s Budget Woes? Tread Carefully When Implementing New Fiscal Controls
March 9, 2018 –
Late last October, Governor Dan Malloy approved a two-year $40.2 billion budget for Connecticut more than 100 days after the fiscal year began. A strongly...
The House Tax Bill Would Simplify Higher Ed Subsidies, But The Price Would Be Higher Costs For Many
November 16, 2017 –
The House Ways & Means Committee version of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) rightly aims to simplify a complex system of tax subsidies...
Who Would Benefit If Congress Keeps the Property Tax Deduction
November 6, 2017 –
The Tax Cut and Jobs Act (TCJA), which the House Ways & Means Committee will consider this week, would generally disallow the state and local...
State and Local Issues
Don’t Laugh at Illinois, Your State Could Be Next
July 10, 2017 –
A Midwestern state passing a budget is not typically front-page news in the New York Times . Then again, most states don't go 736 days...
State and Local Issues
What do immigrants cost state and local governments?
June 8, 2017 –
Heated debates about travel bans and border walls seem to dominate the news cycle, but what do we really know about the effects of immigration?...
State and Local Issues
Colorado’s ballot battle over health care may be the first of many
November 29, 2016 –
Earlier this month, voters across the country decided a number of state initiatives that affect both the services they receive and the taxes they pay...
Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms
What immigration means for our economic and fiscal future
September 29, 2016 –
Are immigrants good for the economy and the country’s balance sheet? That is the politically charged and analytically difficult question tackled in a three-year study...
Individual Taxes
What Happens to Taxes and Transfers When States Raise the Minimum Wage?
May 23, 2016 –
In November, voters will consider ballot initiatives to raise the minimum wage in eight states, following the decision by the California legislature to phase in its own version. Overall, workers will benefit, but because government aid and taxes are based on income, other state and federal policies can either amplify higher wages or reduce them. We used the Urban Institute’s Net Income Change Calculator (NICC) to get a sense of how these wage changes would affect the bottom line for a sample family.
State and Local Issues
On economic turf, Rams move is neither a big win for L.A. nor crushing loss for St. Louis
January 20, 2016 –
There is no joy (and some anger ) in St. Louis: its beloved Rams are returning to Los Angeles. St. Louis is now left thinking about what this means...
Federal Budget and Economy
What Can We Learn from Obama’s Failure to Curb Sec. 529 College Savings Accounts ?
February 2, 2015 –
The President’s budget includes a long list of tax changes including at least one that he has already disavowed: his plan to limit the tax exemption...
Individual Taxes
Obama Would Improve Tax Subsidies for Higher Education
January 25, 2015 –
President Obama will feature higher education prominently in next week’s budget—a choice that makes sense, given that educational attainment is the...
State and Local Issues
What Will Next Week’s State Ballot Measures Tell Us About Taxes?
October 31, 2014 –
While most national attention is focused on which party will control the Senate and who will win the 36 gubernatorial races, many states also have...
Individual Taxes
Does Income Inequality Really Hurt State Tax Revenues?
September 18, 2014 –
This week the rating agency Standard and Poor’s got a lot of attention for a study that concluded that rising income inequality is damaging state tax...

Experts

Kim S. Rueben

Social Media

Primary tasks

From TaxVox