Newsletter Archive

May 9, 2006

See below for the latest from the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center:

• Preliminary Estimates of Tax Reconciliation Bill from the Tax Policy Center
  Tax Policy Center
  May 9, 2006
• Funding Innovations for California's Infrastructure: Promises and Pitfalls
  Ellen Hanak and Kim Rueben
  April 13, 2006
• State Tax Policy: A Political Perspective, Second Edition
  David Brunori
  January 2006

Preliminary Estimates of Tax Reconciliation Bill from the Tax Policy Center
Tax Policy Center
May 9, 2006

House and Senate conferees have reportedly agreed to a $70 billion package of tax cuts, including temporary relief from the alternative minimum tax (AMT), lower taxes on dividends and capital gains in 2009 and 2010, higher expensing limits for small businesses, and removing the income limits on contribution to Roth IRAs and for conversions from traditional IRAs into Roth IRAs (in 2010 only). New tables show the distribution of tax benefits for the package and specific components, as well as an estimate of the long-term revenue implications of the Roth IRA rollover provision. (The rollover provision appears to gain revenues, because taxpayers pay tax to convert the accounts, but they save far more in taxes over time. The long-term revenue loss appears to be more than 150 percent of the revenue raised in the short-term.)

Funding Innovations for California's Infrastructure: Promises and Pitfalls
Ellen Hanak and Kim Rueben
April 13, 2006

Sustained, rapid population growth and a variety of fiscal constraints have challenged the ability of California's state and local governments to provide and maintain adequate levels of civil infrastructure. We summarize current policies in place in California and offer some criteria and issues that should be considered before future projects are undertaken.

State Tax Policy: A Political Perspective, Second Edition
David Brunori
January 2006

State tax systems are in trouble. Revenue collecting methods developed more than a half-century ago are facing the strain of dealing with 21st century economies. Globalization and e-commerce are changing the way people work and purchase goods, devolution has steadily shifted responsibility from the federal government to the states, and tax incentives have become the weapon of choice in the battle to attract business investment. All this, in an environment where antitax messages have become a staple of political campaigns, has made creating tax policy more challenging than ever before. In State Tax Policy: A Political Perspective, David Brunori analyzes these and other critical challenges facing state governments. He identifies the important issues and examines possible solutions in formulating and implementing state tax policy.

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