Publications by Topic
Topic: State and Local Issues
AMT Coverage by State, 2007 (Article/Tax Facts)
Author(s):
Carol Rosenberg
Many taxpayers must calculate their federal income tax liability under two sets of rules: those applying to the regular income tax and those of the alternative minimum tax. If a taxpayer owes more tax under the alternative rules, then the difference is paid as AMT. The AMT hits people in some states harder than it does in others because state and local income and property taxes are not allowed as itemized deductions against the AMT and because income varies across states. This column discusses AMT participation rates by state.
Published: 08/19/09
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Racial Disparities in Education Finance: Going Beyond Equal Revenues (Discussion Papers/Tax Policy Center)
Author(s):
Sheila Murray , Kim Rueben
Education is a key pathway out of poverty, yet schools that primarily serve minority students often fail to provide the educational opportunities available in predominantly white schools. A series of state court cases has addressed one cause of that disparity, the dramatic funding differences that result from reliance on local property taxes to fund schools. This paper examines the success of court-mandated solutions in equalizing spending per pupil across districts serving minority and white students. However, we show that there remains much disparity in other measures of educational quality and outcomes.
Published: 11/03/08
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Sales Tax Holidays (Article/Tax Facts)
Author(s):
Carol Rosenberg , Kim Rueben
For the past 11 years, a growing number of states have held sales tax holidays, during which they exempt certain items from state - and often local - sales tax for a few days. Sixteen states and the District of Columbia have scheduled 25 tax holidays in 2008, most of which occurred in August. Holidays most frequently exempt clothing and school supplies, but some exempt computers, energy-efficient appliances, or hurricane preparedness items..
Published: 10/16/08
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State and Local Revenues (Article/Tax Facts)
Author(s):
Kim Rueben , Carol Rosenberg
State and local revenues have been relatively stable over the last 30 years, growing from 13.5 percent of GDP in 1972 to 16.3 percent in 2005. However, as shown in the table, the composition of revenues has changed, with property taxes declining from 25.6 percent of revenues to only 16.6 percent. Much of this decline occurred in the 1970s.
Published: 04/14/08
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Financing Health Insurance Coverage: California's Revenue Structure and Options (Occasional Paper)
Author(s):
Tracy Gordon , Kim Rueben
California's health care reform effort may have been one of the first casualties of the national economic downturn. Yet the conditions that gave rise to the initiative did not disappear when the plan failed, and other states are pushing ahead with proposals to expand health coverage. So it remains useful to reflect on the California experience. In particular, it will be helpful to understand the proposed funding sources, how they would have interacted with California's revenue system, and what alternative funding streams might have withstood the politics of reform. In this policy brief, we analyze the options for financing expanded health insurance coverage in California and offer our own preferred solution in light of the state's fiscal and political constraints.
Published: 03/07/08
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Understanding States' Fiscal Health During and After the 2001 Recession (Article/Tax Facts)
Author(s):
Elaine Maag , David Merriman
Every state except Vermont operates under some sort of balanced budget requirement. That means that to serve the increased need of distressed populations during recessions, states must either increase revenue or reallocate resources dedicated to other programs. Similarly, when revenue declines, states must raise taxes or reallocate resources. This report examines the extent to which rainy day and general fund savings were a significant factor in helping states cope with fiscal stress during and after the 2001 recession, a possible explanation for the lower than expected legislated tax increases and social welfare cuts.
Published: 01/30/08
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Fiscal Problems and Education Finance (Article)
Author(s):
James Alm , Robert D. Buschman , David L. Sjoquist
Relative to previous recessions, the 2001 recession was short and not very deep. Even so, it had a significant effect on the fiscal condition of state and local governments. This report examined how the recession affected state and local government spending on K-12 education in the three years since the recession. We track the historic pattern at the national level of state and local spending on K-12 education and then turn to a state-level analysis of how K-12 education was affected by the recession, including correlations between local education spending patterns and state patterns.
Published: 01/30/08
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Emerging State Business Tax Policy: More of the Same, or Fundamental Change? (Article/Tax Facts)
Author(s):
William F. Fox , LeAnne Luna , Matthew N. Murray
Much of the state tax policy discussion during the past decade has centered on the performance of corporate income taxes and ways to restructure them. This report focuses on state responses to the weak corporate tax collections during the 2000-2003 period as well as to the revenue performance during the years immediately preceding and following the recession. The report is not an attempt to argue that the corporate income tax is an important component of good state tax policy. Instead, our focus is on identifying state tactics to maintain or change the tax, determining whether those strategies are good tax policy, and evaluating whether they are working to achieve the basic goals of the states.
Published: 01/29/08
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State Education Spending: Current Pressures and Future Trends (Occasional Paper)
Author(s):
Sheila Murray , Kim Rueben , Carol Rosenberg
Education expenditures are one of the largest spending areas for state and local governments, and per–pupil expenditures have been growing over time. We examine trends in state aid for education and overall education spending and decompose the existing drivers behind growing state costs. We then explore how predicted future demographic trends will affect education spending levels, as the percent of the population that is of school age falls. We conclude that there will continue to be a large state role in education funding, but demographic changes may lead to reduced political support for schools in the future.
Published: 01/23/08
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Navigating State and Local Finances (Article)
Author(s):
Susan Kellam , Kim Rueben , Therese J. McGuire
This article summarizes a March 2007 TPC-Northwestern conference examining state and local finances. Reprinted from Lincoln Institute of Land Policy Land Lines October 2007 issue.
Published: 09/28/07
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