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

Individual Taxes

Gas Taxes, Gas Prices, and Fuel Economy

Gas prices have increased substantially since the beginning of this year, continuing their upward trend since 1990. American drivers are pushing the federal and state governments to implement policies to lower gas prices. But gasoline taxes have not contributed to the increase in gas prices....

April 24, 2012

Kim S. Rueben

Research report

Individual Taxes

Gasoline Taxes and Rising Fuel Prices

April 24, 2012

Kim S. Rueben Yuri Shadunsky

Research report

Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms

Tax Proposals in the 2012 Budget

President Obama's 2012 Budget contains a number of tax provisions that would cut taxes for low- and middle-income households and raise taxes on wealthier taxpayers. This resource guide describes the tax proposals, offers more detailed commentary on key provisions, and links to tables showing the...

March 28, 2011

Benjamin H. Harris Elaine Maag Donald Marron James R. Nunns Joseph Rosenberg Kim S. Rueben Eric Toder Roberton C. Williams

Research report

State and Local Issues

State Revenue Responses to Fiscal Shortfalls

The current economic downturn has resulted in a sharp decline in state tax revenues. Forty-six states faced budget shortfalls when passing their fiscal year (FY) 2011 budgets, and 17 states reported shortfalls of more than 20 percent. According to the National Association of State Budget...

December 10, 2010

Kim S. Rueben Ritadhi Chakravarti

Research report

Federal Budget and Economy

What the Housing Crisis Means for State and Local Governments

As the US housing market experiences its largest contraction since the Great Depression, the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center took a closer look at the consequences of this crisis for state and local governments in a May 2010 conference.This article...

October 12, 2010

Kim S. Rueben Serena Lei

Research report

Individual Taxes

State Individual Income Tax Rates

Personal income tax systems vary widely across states, leading to different levels of progressivity. Forty-three states and the District of Columbia have an individual income tax. Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming do not tax personal income, while New...

May 11, 2010

Carol Rosenberg Kim S. Rueben

Research report

Federal Budget and Economy

Tax Stimulus Report Card: Conference Bill

This report card evaluates the provisions of the Finance and Ways & Means Committees' conference tax stimulus bill (the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act of 2009"). The evaluation is preliminary and does not include all of the provisions in the bill most notably we omit provisions...

February 13, 2009

Rosanne Altshuler Leonard E. Burman Howard Gleckman Dan Halperin Benjamin H. Harris Elaine Maag Kim S. Rueben Eric Toder Roberton C. Williams

Research report

Federal Budget and Economy

Tax Stimulus Report Card: Senate Finance Committee

The Tax Policy Center has graded the key tax provisions of the pending Senate stimulus bill (the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Plan of 2009"). Our grades, which rely on the bill's legislative language, focus on how well these measures would boost the economy in the short run....

January 29, 2009

Rosanne Altshuler Leonard E. Burman Howard Gleckman Dan Halperin Benjamin H. Harris Elaine Maag Kim S. Rueben Eric Toder Roberton C. Williams

Brief

State and Local Issues

Racial Disparities in Education Finance: Going Beyond Equal Revenues

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...

November 3, 2008

Sheila Murray 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

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Primary tasks

From TaxVox