State Budget and Tax Archive
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Off the Charts Blog: In Case You Missed It...
May 24, 2013
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Policy Basics: State Supermajority Rules to Raise Revenues
April 22, 2013
Legislatures in most states (34 states plus the District of Columbia) can approve tax bills with a simple majority vote in each house, the same margin required for practically every other bill. In the other 16 states, some or all tax bills require a supermajority vote of each house (plus the … -
Strategies to Address the State Tax Volatility Problem
April 18, 2013
State revenues plummet in recessions, just when states can least afford the loss. Some proposals to address this flaw in state tax systems would change the systems’ structure — for instance, by replacing state personal income taxes with sales taxes — but wouldn’t solve the problem and would exacerbate others in … -
Policy Basics: Where Do Our State Tax Dollars Go?
Updated April 12, 2013
With state revenues still deeply damaged by the recession, policymakers continue to confront major choices about how to pay for important services now and in the future. To inform this crucial decision making, it is useful to examine where state tax dollars go as well as changing trends over time.… -
Tax Foundation Figures Do Not Represent Typical Households’ Tax Burdens
April 2, 2013
The Tax Foundation released its annual “Tax Freedom Day” report today that, once again, can leave a strikingly misleading impression of tax burdens — showing an average federal tax rate across the United States that’s likely higher than the tax rate that 80 percent of U.S. households actually pay. To project the day … -
Ryan Budget Would Shift Substantial Costs To States and Localities
March 27, 2013
The budget that House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan developed and the full House passed recently would cause federal support for services that state and local governments provide — schools, health care, clean water facilities, and law enforcement, for example — to decline precipitously over the next several years. … -
State Personal Income Tax Cuts: A Poor Strategy for Economic Growth
March 21, 2013
Policymakers in a number of states including Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, and Wisconsin are promoting deep cuts in personal income taxes as a prescription for economic growth — an approach that has not worked particularly well in the past and is not supported by the preponderance of the … -
Media Briefing: Examining States’ Dramatic Higher Education Cuts and Tuition Increases
March 19, 2013
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities held a conference call briefing to discuss the deep cuts almost every state has made to public universities and colleges, and explains how those cuts hurt students and state economies.
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Recent Deep State Higher Education Cuts May Harm Students and the Economy for Years to Come
March 19, 2013
As states prepare their budgets for the coming year, they face the challenge of reinvesting in public higher education systems after years of damaging cuts — the product of both the economic downturn and states’ reluctance to raise additional revenues. In the past five years, state cuts to higher education funding … -
States Made Deep Cuts to Higher Education, New Report Finds
March 19, 2013
Public universities and colleges in nearly every state have seen their state funding decline sharply, according to a new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Nationwide, states are on average spending 28 percent less this year than they did in 2008, a decrease of $2,353 per student. As a result, colleges and universities have had to … -
State Taxes on Inherited Wealth Remain Common:
Updated March 12, 2013
Taxes on inherited wealth are a traditional and common revenue source for states. Prior to the passage of the federal estate tax cut in 2001, every state levied an estate tax that allowed them to “pick up” a share of federal estate tax revenues. The state “pick-up” estate taxes did not increase total estate … -
Strengthening State Fiscal Policies for a Stronger Economy
Updated March 11, 2013
Strengthening state economies and creating jobs — now and into the future — will require sensible, forward-looking state fiscal policies. States need to invest adequately in education, health care, transportation, and workforce development. To do that, they need to generate sufficient revenue, and they need to do so … -
Cutting State Personal Income Taxes Won’t Help Small Businesses Create Jobs and May Harm State Economies
February 19, 2013
Cutting state personal income taxes not only won’t promote small business growth and job creation, but it is also likely over time to threaten the success of entrepreneurs by taking resources away from critical services like education. Until recently, most proposals to cut state taxes in the name of boosting economic growth and job … -
Policy Basics: Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR)
Updated February 15, 2013
A Taxpayer Bill of Rights or TABOR is a constitutional measure that limits the annual growth in state and local revenues to the sum of the inflation rate and the percentage change in the state’s population. (For example, if the general inflation rate is 2 percent and the state’s … -
Four Big Threats to State Finances Could Undermine Future U.S. Prosperity
February 14, 2013
Without adequate revenues, states and localities cannot continue providing public services like education, health care, and infrastructure that lay the groundwork for a prosperous future. But state revenue systems face four serious challenges. The most severe recession in seven decades blasted holes in state budgets from … -
ALEC Tax and Budget Proposals Would Slash Public Services and Jeopardize Economic Growth
February 12, 2013
Governors and legislatures in numerous states are considering, or have recently enacted, sweeping tax and budget proposals that follow recommendations of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), with potentially adverse consequences for middle- and lower-income families, individuals, and communities across the country. These policies … -
Policy Basics: The ABCs of State Budgets
Revised February 7, 2013
States are slowly recovering from an unprecedented budget crisis that resulted from the recent recession and the greatest decline in state tax revenues on record. Below is some background on the fundamentals of state finances and the depth of the problems that states face today. The Budget … -
Testimony of Jared Bernstein, Senior Fellow, Before the House Education and Workforce Committee
February 5, 2013
Chairman Kline and ranking member Miller, I thank you for inviting me to testify today on issues directly in the wheelhouse of this committee: education, skills, and jobs. My testimony begins by looking at the current jobs situation with an emphasis on educational investments. I then discuss ways in which recent budget cuts are threatening the … -
States Can Opt Out of the Costly and Ineffective “Domestic Production Deduction” Corporate Tax Break
Updated January 31, 2013
Over the past few years, states have faced large budgets gaps caused by a dramatic decline in revenue collections since the start of the recession. One contributor to this fiscal crisis in many states has been a relatively new corporate tax break — one that in most states never even received a vote in the state legislature but … -
2013 Is a Good Year to Repair (if Not Replenish) State Rainy Day Funds
January 15, 2013
The last decade’s roller-coaster economy has highlighted the importance of state “rainy day funds” — budget reserves for when recessions or other unexpected events cause revenue declines or spending increases. States with rainy day funds were able to avert over $20 billion in cuts to services and/or tax …
