Contrary to popular belief, undocumented immigrants pay taxes and are not able to receive public benefits, except for K through 12 public education for their children and emergency health care.
May 2006 Archives
In Oklahoma, Republican and Democratic leaders are feuding over how to dispose of the state's budget surplus, with Republicans pushing for cuts in the top income tax rate and Democrats pushing for an increase in the stand deduction. An analysis by Oklahoma's Community Action Project shows that the standard deduction would be a much better deal for most Oklahomans.
New Jersey continues to struggle with property tax reform. A task force has signaled that it will call for a July special legislative session to deal with the state's growing homeowner property taxes. One lawmaker has proposed paying for major homeowner tax cuts with an income tax hike, while others think consolidating school districts is a necessary first step.
Meanwhile, Texas lawmakers are wrapping their special session up after finally figuring out a way to cut school property taxes -- but a lot of people are unhappy with the outcome. The new law reduces school property tax rates across the board, and pays for this major tax cut with three major sources: the state's short-term budget surplus, a cigarette tax hike, and a revamp of the state's major business tax. The Texas Center for Public Policy Priorities sensibly points out that since the budget surplus part of this equation will eventually disappear, once these changes are fully phased in, this "tax swap" will create a $10.5 billion hole in the state's biennial budget.
Advocates of Colorado-style "TABOR" tax and spending limits are seeing mixed success in efforts to get TABOR limits on the November ballot.
Maine voters will have their say on a TABOR proposal that the Portland Press Herald sees as " the wrong approach."
But a restrictive Ohio proposal will likely be pulled from the November ballot. Meanwhile, a terrific Denver Post editorial argues that their TABOR law still hurts the state's economy-- even after being pared back by voters last fall.
Read the ITEP Op-Ed: Correcting Myths About RI's Economic Climate
This op-ed sets the record straight on the myths and realities surrounding Rhode Island's economic-development climate.
Earlier this spring, Wyoming became the latest state to exempt groceries from its sales tax.
Now businesses are discovering that special sales tax exemptions can be harder to implement than they are to enact. As one local entrepreneur notes, "If the tax exemption is meant for food that's not immediately consumed will his employees need to treat the customer who buys a bagel to eat in the store differently from the customer who takes his bagel elsewhere to eat?" Sales tax exemptions are a progressive (but costly) approach to sales tax relief. ITEP has more on options for progressive sales tax reform here.
After abandoning earlier efforts to pass targeted income tax cuts for working families, Hawaii policymakers are poised to enact tax measures that largely benefit wealthy taxpayers. For more on how this plan would affect Hawaii's income tax threshold-- and more on the distribution of tax cuts under the new plan, click here. The Honolulu Star-Bulletin tells it like it is here.