Nearly all state tax commissions—independent groups that study and make recommendations for improving a state’s tax system—are tasked with improving economic development within the state. Their report introductions include phrases such as “growth-friendly,” “unleash innovation,” and “optimum...
States vary in how much governments collect in revenue and spend on goods and services. To understand the sources of these differences, we examined what states could raise (revenue capacity) and would spend (expenditure need) if they followed national averages, taking into account their own...
Hillary Clinton proposes raising taxes on high-income taxpayers, modifying taxation of multinational corporations, repealing fossil fuel tax incentives, and increasing estate and gift taxes. Her proposals would increase revenue by $1.1 trillion over the next decade. Nearly all of the tax...
The State & Local Finance Initiative’s State Economic Monitor tracks economic-performance data across the states and the District of Columbia, highlighting differences in key indicators including employment, wages, housing, and taxes. This quarter’s report finds the unemployment rate fell in...
The federal government and most states have per-unit gas taxes. Because they tax gallons purchased, and not a percentage of purchase price, revenues are falling across the country as Americans buy less gas. If states do not want to cut transportation projects they now have to increase tax rates...
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...
Most states ended the summer of 2014 on a positive economic note. Up from 14 states a year earlier, 25 states reported August unemployment rates below 6 percent. Every state but Alaska added jobs within the last year. But some troubling signs remain. Inflation-adjusted average weekly wages...
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...
A few Tax Policy Center staffers and I spend tax season volunteering for the IRS's Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, providing free tax preparation...
Despite some warnings of long-term fiscal risk, policymakers across the country continue to push big state tax cuts. While most are focused on income tax...
A few weeks into their 2022 legislative sessions, the question in most state capitols across the country—from Connecticut to Utah —is not whether to cut...
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis wants to use $1 billion in American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds to suspend Florida’s gas tax for five months. Suspending the...
Bigger State EITCs Are Simple, Affordable, and Effective Currently, 28 states offer their own EITC . (Missouri and Washington State will join the list in...
In March 2020, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed a $11.8 billion budget that was $500 million lower than what he had proposed just weeks earlier—before...
On Monday, the U.S. Treasury Department released much-anticipated guidance for the American Recovery Plan ’s (ARP) $350 billion in direct state and local aid ,...
The American Rescue Plan (ARP) sends $350 billion to state and local governments with very few strings attached. Unlike the CARES Act , which originally...
In a new analysis , the Tax Policy Center’s State and Local Finance Initiative compared governors’ fiscal year (FY) 2022 budget proposals with their state’s...
Uber and Lyft are threating to shut down operations in California because the state considers their drivers employees rather than independent contractors. The distinction might...
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) recently said he is “in favor of allowing states to use the bankruptcy route,” instead of Congress providing them...
The $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act signed into law last week will allocate roughly $200 billion in fiscal relief to...
States often fail at tax reform. But few efforts flop as spectacularly as Utah’s did. Utah passed sweeping tax reform legislation in December 2019. Utah...
Like most states, Colorado and Texas do not have legislative or gubernatorial elections in 2019. Still, their voters are facing tricky, and potentially far-reaching, tax...
Bloomberg recently reported that Sony sent Chicago a $1.2 million check , ending its legal challenge to the city’s so-called “Netflix tax.” That everyone called...
