In signing a new two-year budget, Wisconsin governor Scott Walker fattened corporate welfare programs while making cuts to just about every public service the working poor depend on, including healthcare, child care, higher education and transportation.  The Center on Wisconsin Strategy has correctly labeled the new budget a “Betrayal of Wisconsin Values.”

According to a release from the Center:

• Funding for Medicaid and BadgerCare, the programs that ensure that all children have access to healthcare, will be cut by $500 million;
• Funding for Child Care, the service that low-income workers depend on to take care of their children so they can go to work, will be cut by $15 million;
• Funding for the Property Tax Circuit breaker, the program that reduces property tax payments for low-income families (many elderly), will no longer be indexed to inflation and will be worth $13.6 million less;
• Funding for technical colleges, education that provides skills for new workers and retraining for displaced ones, will lose $71.6 million, or 25% of its total funding;
• Funding for Public Transportation, for many low-income workers the sole mean of getting to and from their job, will be cut by $9.2 million;
• Funding for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), which provides the working poor with a tax credit to offset regressive payroll taxes, will be scaled back by $56.2 million.  The EITC has been championed by economists across the political spectrum for its significant work incentive and capacity to help the working poor pull themselves out of poverty. 

These and other cuts amount to $2 billion worth of support yanked out from underneath the working poor.  Yet, in his frenzy of service cuts, Governor Walker somehow found room for $2.3 billion in tax breaks over the next decade, in the form of a domestic productio

n activities credit, two different capital gains tax breaks, and a variety of new sales tax exemptions for priorities like snowmaking and snow grooming equipment.

Of all the factors that stimulate a state’s economy by attracting private sector business, corporate taxes are among the least significant.  A skilled workforce capable of getting to job sites is a much higher priority for virtually any smart business owner. Unfortunately, Governor Walker’s budget just put that asset in serious jeopardy.

Photo via Blue Robot Creative Commons Attribution License 2.0

 Two states — Nebraska and Utah — recently enacted new laws diverting a sizeable chunk of their state sales taxes to transportation.  Education, human services, and other vital programs are expected to suffer as a result of this diversion.  Instead of siphoning off much-needed revenues from other areas of the state budget, these states should have boosted their traditional transportation revenue sources, most notably the gas tax.

In Nebraska, Governor Heineman reluctantly signed a bill last week that will divert 0.25 percentage points of the state’s 5.5 percent sales tax to road repair and construction.  Just two months ago, Heineman had called the same proposal “risky” and “unwise,” though the state’s improved revenue picture apparently caused him to abandon this position. 

A wide range of people, including both opponents of the bill and the bill’s sponsor, have pointed out that the inadequacy of Nebraska’s gas tax is to blame for the state’s unmet transportation needs. 

However, given the lack of real interest in raising the gas tax, lawmakers ultimately decided to meet those needs by simply prioritizing roads over education, public safety, and other services.

In Utah, a very similar law was enacted earlier this month when the state’s legislature narrowly overrode Governor Herbert’s veto of a measure redirecting up to $60 million in sales tax revenue to transportation each year.  Herbert had vetoed the bill out of concern for its impact on education funding, and on the state’s ability to be flexible in dealing with future budgetary challenges. 

An increase in Utah’s gas tax, which hasn’t been raised in fifteen years despite rising transportation costs, could have precluded the need to redirect such a substantial sum of money away from vital public services.

Making matters worse, an analysis from Utah Voices for Children points out that a significant amount of general fund revenues in Utah are already earmarked for transportation.  These earmarks, as well as additional borrowing, have allowed transportation spending to swallow up an increasing share of the state budget over the last five years, with spending on education, health, and environmental quality suffering as a result.

Unfortunately, this decline in other areas of the budget may not be an accident.  The Utah bill’s original sponsor, Sen. Stuart Adams, has reportedly touted the siphoning-off of revenue from other areas of the state budget as a major benefit, since it shrinks the size of programs he tends to dislike. 

Given that basically every state levies a gas tax that won’t keep pace with transportation cost growth unless its rate is periodically raised, this argument (whether made explicitly or not) will no doubt remain powerful among conservative lawmakers for years to come. 

Raising transportation-specific taxes and fees, while not always the most progressive solution, is no doubt preferable to allowing other areas of state budgets to be gutted in order to fund road repair and construction.

*MAY 28 UPDATE* Wisconsin Republicans are also working hard to redirect revenue away from schools and toward transportation.  The legislature's budget committee recently voted, along party lines, to redirect $125 million in sales and income tax revenue to transportation in 2012, and to redirect 0.25% of such revenue to transportation in 2013 and each year thereafter.  It's important to note that Wisconsin's gas tax used to be indexed to inflation — which allowed it to grow alongside increases in transportation infrastructure costs.  Inflation indexing was eliminated in 2006.

California, Delaware, Michigan, New Jersey, Oregon, and Wisconsin have all experienced better than expected revenue growth over the past few months.  This is unambiguously good news, but for many lawmakers it’s unfortunately an excuse to ditch any restraint on tax-cutting.

California

In California, stronger-than-expected revenue growth has made the GOP even more vocal in opposing efforts to extend a variety of temporary income, sales, and vehicle tax increases.  Governor Jerry Brown’s continued push to extend these tax hikes is very sensible given that the unanticipated revenue boost was still quite small compared to the state’s total budget.  

Brown has behaved much less sensibly, however, in deciding to abandon efforts to end a variety of business tax credits.  As Jean Ross of the California Budget Project points out, “One of the virtues of the original budget was that there was some level of shared sacrifice.  But now, some businesses are going to come out ahead of where they were last year.”

Delaware

In Delaware, a surprise bump in revenue collections has inspired the state’s Democratic Governor, and a number of Republican legislators, to begin pushing for tax cuts.  

Specifically, the Governor has proposed cutting taxes for banks, businesses, and individuals with taxable incomes of over $60,000.  

In reference to the windfall that banks would receive under the Governor’s plan, Rep. John Kowalko argues that "They do pretty damn well with the federal handouts … I want to see a return on the investment before I will blindly vote on that."

Michigan

In Michigan, better-than-expected revenue growth in the current fiscal year may be used to reduce cuts in school spending that are currently under consideration.  

Any unexpected revenue growth in subsequent fiscal years, however, will be swallowed up by the massive business tax cuts that Michigan’s legislature passed last week.

New Jersey

In New Jersey, unanticipated revenue growth is expected to be used by Governor Chris Christie as yet another excuse for doling out billions in corporate tax breaks.
 
As New Jersey Policy Perspective points out, however, “the state remains stuck in a very deep hole … even with that growth, the state’s revenue collections would still be $3.4 billion less than was collected in FY2008, the year prior to the recession … the state must choose to invest these revenues wisely, using the money to restore the devastating cuts made to services and to pay into the state pension system.”

Oregon

In Oregon, unexpected revenue growth will likely be used to restore cuts to human services and public safety, at least in the short term.  By 2013, however, the state’s “kicker” law will probably require that some amount of revenue growth be dedicated to tax cuts.  

As Rep. Phil Barnhart points out, "Because this budget is so bad, we don't take care of schoolchildren, basic health issues and maintaining prisons — and we have a kicker at the end … We are stuck with this kicker law when we really need to spend some of this money on the budget."

Wisconsin

Finally, in Wisconsin, Governor Scott Walker has stubbornly refused to adapt to changing conditions on the ground.   If Walker gets his way, $1 billion will still be slashed from public schools, despite the state’s recently improved revenue picture.

In his recent budget address, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker said, “The facts are clear: Wisconsin is broke and it’s time to start paying our bills today.” Perhaps the “facts” aren’t entirely clear for the Governor, given new improved revenue forecasts as well as more balanced revenue options that are available to lawmakers and described in a new report.

The Wisconsin Budget Project is reporting that the state’s revenue forecast has improved. The Legislative Fiscal Bureau released an updated revenue estimate saying that the state is likely to have an additional $636 million in revenue before the end of the 2013 fiscal year compared to earlier estimates. This breaks down into $233 million above current projections for the current fiscal year and $200 million more in each of the next two years.  

Even without this revenue boost, of course, there are ways to address budget gaps that don’t include union busting, cutting recycling programs, and massive cuts to education. The Institute on Wisconsin’s Future (IWF) recently released their updated Catalog of Reform Options for Wisconsin, which outlines a set of options for reforming the sales tax, business taxes, and personal income tax.

Wisconsin lawmakers will certainly find more useful ideas in IWF’s catalog than in Governor Walker’s proposals.

On Sunday the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel published an interesting article about the capital gains tax breaks that Governor Scott Walker is proposing in his biennial budget. The article’s title “Walker’s proposed capital gains tax break gets lukewarm backing” says it all. Capital gains tax breaks are costly and are extremely regressive because most capital gains income is received by the richest taxpayers.

Wisconsin already allows a tremendously generous 30 percent exclusion for capital gains income, which ITEP estimates cost more than $150 million in 2010. The Governor is proposing two changes to how capital gains are currently taxed: “a 100 percent exclusion for capital gains realized on Wisconsin-based capital assets held for five or more years and a 100 percent capital gains tax deferral for gains reinvested in Wisconsin-based businesses.”

If implemented, these changes would cost the state about $36 million over the next two fiscal years. At a time when the state is facing a $3.6 billion dollar shortfall, surely there are better ways that $36 million could be used.

For more on the ongoing budget debate, check out the Wisconsin Budget Project’s blog and the Institute for Wisconsin’s Future (IWF).

Last month, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker introduced his budget plan to help balance Wisconsin’s books for the remainder of the current fiscal year. The most controversial piece of the budget repair bill calls for a reduction in benefits for public employees and the end of their collective bargaining rights.

However, the Wisconsin Budget Project reminds us that public employees in Wisconsin actually aren’t overcompensated for their work.  The New York Times opines, “Like many governors, he wants to cut the benefits of state workers. But he also decided a budget crisis was a good time to advance an ideological goal dear to his fellow Republicans: eliminating most collective bargaining rights for public employees.”

It’s worth noting that shortly after taking office, Governor Walker pushed through his own tax cuts, which will cost the state $117 million in the next biennium. This begs the question: If the Governor was really serious about balancing the state’s books, why is he passing more tax cuts that will need to be paid for in the future?  Governor Walker would likely say that passing these tax cuts are proof that he is fulfilling his campaign promise that “Wisconsin is open for business.” But we know that companies look for more than lower tax rates or special tax credits when deciding where to locate.

The debate about the budget repair bill rages on. Democratic Senators remain outside the state to prevent a quorum, and protestors are gathering in Madison every day.  With the unveiling of Governor Walker’s biennial budget Tuesday night, the debate is only going to heat up. The Governor's budget includes no fee or tax increases and reduces aid to local governments by over a billion dollars. In fact, overall spending is reduced by $4.2 billion under the Governor's plan.

The Governor’s proposed budget creates distinct winners and losers. In terms of tax policy, low-income folks are likely to be hit the hardest by this budget, but certain Wisconsin investors will come out ahead. 

For example, the Governor proposes to also eliminate indexing of the state’s homestead credit, which offers property tax relief specifically targeted to low-income Wisconsinites. Despite the Earned Income Tax Credit’s impressive track record of lifting people from poverty, the proposed budget will reduce the percentage of the federal credit that Wisconsin currently allows.

On the other hand, Wisconsin allows one of the most generous capital gains tax breaks, and the Governor is proposing to add a 100 percent capital gains exclusion for investors who invest in Wisconsin businesses and keep those investments for at least five years. 

The Governor is not making draconian cuts and moving against collective bargaining because it's necessary to balance the budget. He's making choices that reflect the priorities of businesses and anti-government activists. He could make other choices.

For example, instead of creating a new giveaway for investors, he could move in the opposite direction by reducing or eliminating the state's existing break for capital gains. Wisconsin is just one of eight states that offer special treatment for capital gains income. ITEP estimates that eliminating this regressive and costly exclusion could bring in more than $151 million.  Given the concentration of capital gains income among the very wealthiest taxpayers, the benefits of capital gains tax preferences are, of course, focused on the well-to-do. In fact, virtually all — 95 percent — of the tax reductions arising from Wisconsin’s 30 percent capital gains exclusion are realized by the richest 20 percent of taxpayers in the state. The remaining 80 percent of taxpayers collectively receive just 5 percent of the overall capital gains tax break.

This fierce budget debate presents a historic opportunity for all Wisconsinites to take a closer look at their state’s budget, tax structure, and tax credits and ensure that these important fiscal structures reflect the state’s values.

In some states, huge budget gaps are making it somewhat difficult to enact the types of large, immediate tax cuts that many lawmakers promised during their political campaigns last year.  Partially as a result, anti-tax lawmakers are increasingly looking toward the longer-term with proposals to cap state spending, cap property tax growth, and mandate a supermajority legislative vote in order to raise taxes.  Four states in particular generated headlines for proposals of this sort over the past week: New York, Wisconsin, Virginia, and North Dakota.

As we mentioned two weeks ago, New York’s Republican-led Senate has already passed constitutional amendments that would impose a TABOR-style spending cap, and a supermajority requirement for raising taxes.  This week, the Senate added to that list by enthusiastically passing Governor Andrew Cuomo’s property tax cap, which would limit property tax growth to 2 percent per year.  As the New York Times pointed out, property tax caps in general are extremely blunt instruments, and this one is particularly worrisome given the lack of exemptions for things like health care, pensions, debt service, or increased enrollment.  Fortunately, all three of these proposals will be less welcome in the state Assembly, though the Assembly’s speaker has expressed an interest in coming to a “common ground with the governor and the Senate on an appropriate property tax cap.”

In Wisconsin, the state’s newly elected Republican governor and Republican legislators have enacted relatively minor business tax cuts that some lawmakers have described as merely symbolic.  Not content with these small victories, Republican lawmakers are now turning to the slightly longer-term, as the state Assembly last week passed a bill that would require a supermajority vote in order to raise taxes during the next two years.  Of much more concern, however, is a proposed constitutional amendment that would permanently impose the same restriction on Wisconsin residents’ elected representatives. That amendment has yet to come up for a vote.

In Virginia, two troubling constitutional amendments made it out of committee last week. One would mandate a supermajority vote to raise taxes and another would impose a TABOR spending cap equal to inflation plus population growth.  Both are being pushed by Del. Mark Cole, and both were the subject of a highly critical editorial in the Roanoke Times this week.

Finally, in North Dakota, a proposal to cap property tax revenue growth at 3 percent per year received a committee hearing this week and will eventually move to the full House for a vote.  Similar proposals have been rejected in each of the last two sessions, though the fate of this one remains unclear.

Hopefully, lawmakers in each of these states will eventually decide against reducing their ability to deal with the difficult and often unforeseen challenges that state and local governments must inevitably confront.

Republican lawmakers in four states — Wisconsin, Maine, New York, and Hawaii — are seeking to amend their state constitutions to require a two-thirds supermajority vote in each legislative chamber in order to raise taxes.  Each of these proposals would reduce the ability of these states to provide an adequate level of public services, and would make it significantly more difficult to enact real tax reform that wipes out wasteful tax deductions, exemptions, and credits.

These supermajority requirements would mean that even if state lawmakers representing 65 percent of a state's residents in both chambers, and the governor, all support a revenue increase, it still would not become law.

Besides being blatantly anti-democratic, the supermajority requirement to raise taxes would be particularly damaging during difficult economic times.  State revenues inevitably decline when the economy weakens, and dealing effectively with the resulting revenue shortfall requires a balanced approach relying on both higher taxes and cuts in state services.  A supermajority requirement would make striking this balance far more difficult.

Less obvious is the impact that supermajority requirements have on states’ abilities to reform their tax systems.  As CTJ has explained in the past, state supermajority requirements are one of the most important factors in biasing lawmakers toward pursuing their favorite policy goals via the tax code.  Supermajority requirements make it impossible for a simple majority of legislators to close a tax loophole unless they enlarge another loophole or lower tax rates in order to offset the resulting revenue gain. 

State lawmakers are well aware of the bias that already exists in favor of continuing tax breaks, and have begun crafting their favorite initiatives (e.g. energy subsidies, job-creation incentives, etc.) in the form of tax breaks in order to take advantage of this fact.  The result is the overly complicated, inefficient, and pork-laden tax codes you see in almost every state today.

Maine and Wisconsin are the only two states in the country that flipped from entirely Democratic control to entirely Republican control in last November’s election.  It’s no coincidence that these are also the two states most seriously considering a supermajority requirement.  In both cases, it took almost no time at all for Republicans to realize that a constitutional amendment of this type could allow them to continue implementing their anti-tax agendas long after they’ve been voted out of office.

In New York, a supermajority amendment has already passed the state Senate (along with an extremely ill-advised cap on state spending), though it’s likely to be greeted much less enthusiastically in the Democrat-led Assembly.  The proposal would also have to pass in the next legislature (which convenes two years from now), and be approved by voters before it would become a part of the state’s constitution.

Of the four states where supermajority amendments are being debated, Hawaii’s is by far the least likely to gain traction.  The Hawaii House’s 8 Republican legislators (out of a 51 person chamber) have floated the idea and encouraged the majority Democrats to fold it into their platform.  In a great example of Aloha Spirit, the Republicans have even been nice enough to insist that “Our caucus isn’t saying we need the credit.  What we’re saying is, we need the result.”  Hopefully, Hawaii Democrats — like the lawmakers in the other three states considering these amendments — will politely brush this proposal aside.

Some politicians in state capitals across the U.S. seem convinced that tax cuts for businesses and the wealthy are the best way to accelerate economic recovery. In two states, governors are proposing instead to cut taxes on groceries, which is a more effective, though not exactly flawless, way to help ordinary families. The tradeoff to any tax cut, of course, is unaffordable cuts to essential services including education, public safety, and health care.

In Wisconsin, state lawmakers agreed on a business tax cut that would add about $50 million to the budget deficit.  The Republican controlled legislature and newly elected Governor Scott Walker believe that the tax cuts will leave everybody with more money and leave the state with an improved economy.  Incredibly, Walker’s proposal rests on the assumption that the tax cuts will lure businesses away from Illinois, which recently saw an increase in its income tax, rather than fostering young, developing businesses. 

In Iowa, where a similar $300 million business tax cut is being discussed, critics of Governor Terry Branstad point out that essential social services are being axed in favor of pro-business policies.

In Arizona, Governor Jan Brewer is proposing to cut taxes on high-wage industries while further reducing funding for Medicaid, universities, community colleges, and K-12 education.  

Similar tax cuts are being proposed in New York, Washington, Michigan, Minnesota, and South Carolina. All of these plans prioritize tax breaks for business over providing essential services to those most affected by the economic downturn.  

The Governors of West Virginia and Arkansas have arrived at an entirely different tax-cutting proposal: reducing the sales tax on groceries.  Like lawmakers who support business tax cuts, Governors Tomblin and Beebe believe their brand of tax cuts will circulate quickly throughout the economy, providing necessary relief to the taxpaying public while stimulating the economy. 

Governor Mike Beebe of Arkansas wants to cut the sales tax on groceries by a half-cent and has said it is the only tax cut he will consider this year.  In West Virginia, Governor Earl Ray Tomblin wants to reduce the grocery sales tax from 3 to 2 cents and would ultimately like to see it eliminated entirely.

While the proposals to cut the sales tax on groceries are a welcome development compared to proposed tax cuts for businesses and the wealthy, there are still two problems with them. 

First and foremost, states are in dire need of revenue this year as they face the most significant budget challenge yet since the start of the recession.  Every dollar lost to a tax cut will have to be made up by an even deeper cut in spending. 

Second, reducing the sales tax on groceries is not the most targeted approach available to state leaders looking to support working families.  The poorest 40 percent of taxpayers typically receive only about 25 percent of the benefit from exempting groceries. The rest goes to wealthier taxpayers who can more easily afford to pay the sales tax on groceries. 

Enacting or increasing a refundable state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) or other low-income refundable credit would be a more affordable and better targeted alternative to ensure that tax cuts reach low- and middle-income working families.  Tax cuts that directly benefit low-wage workers are especially beneficial to the general economy because low-wage workers immediately spend their refunds out of necessity.  By pumping the money back into the economy, the tax cut goes further in stimulating the economy than tax cuts for the wealthy or businesses.

Instead of pursuing tax cuts for businesses and wealthy individuals, state lawmakers should be working to alleviate hardship on the most vulnerable.  Indeed, the governors in West Virginia and Arkansas may end up being much more efficient at helping their state economies rebound than the “business friendly" governors in Wisconsin and Iowa.

Ill-conceived tax ideas are coming out of statehouses and governors’ mansions at a faster rate than we’ve seen in quite a while.  Here’s a quick summary on recent proposals receiving serious consideration in Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Ohio, and Wisconsin.

Arizona: Business tax breaks and property tax breaks are being pushed by the Arizona Chamber of Commerce, and legislative leaders are taking them seriously.  The specifics have yet to be worked out, but expect at a minimum to see tax subsidies ostensibly aimed at boosting business hiring and investment.  As the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) has explained, however, states cannot stimulate their economies by cutting taxes.

Florida: Newly elected Governor Rick Scott continues to insist that “the way to get the state back to work is to cut property taxes and phase-out the corporate income tax, and we’re going to get that done.”  The state’s enormous budget gap has caused Senate President Mike Haridopolos to approach the issue more cautiously, though he still claims that “if we see some opportunities for tax relief that we feel absolutely confident will create more jobs and actually grow the economy, we’re open to them.”  Haridopolos is also pushing a “Taxpayer Bill of Rights” (TABOR) proposal similar to the one that decimated Colorado’s education funding stream.

Idaho: Legislators in Idaho — including the House majority leader — are preparing to revive an idea they first proposed toward the end of last year’s session: slashing the state’s corporate income tax rate from 7.6 percent to 4.9 percent.  Idaho legislators are also discussing cutting the state’s top personal income tax rate from 7.8 percent to 4.9 percent.  Each of these changes would drastically reduce the amount of revenue available to pay for vital state services, though by proposing that these changes be phased-in gradually over the course of the next decade, legislators are hoping to avoid having to spend too much time thinking about what state services will eventually have to be cut.

Maine: State Tax Notes (subscription required) reports that the chairman of Maine’s Senate tax committee plans to make cutting the state’s personal income tax rate his top priority.  Unlike the tax reform package that Maine voters recently rejected, this cut would be paid for not by broadening the state’s tax base, but by cutting spending and hoping for strong revenue growth.  Maine’s legislators are also apparently contemplating a constitutional amendment that would require supermajority support in the legislature in order to raise taxes.  A supermajority requirement of this type would result not only in lower state services, but also in more tax loopholes.  This is because such a requirement would prevent a simple majority of legislators from eliminating a tax loophole unless they also enlarged another loophole or lowered tax rates in a way that resulted in no net revenue gain.

Michigan: House and Senate leadership on both sides of the aisle in Michigan have inexplicably come to an agreement that the state’s EITC should be cut.  It’s unclear why tax increases on low-income families have suddenly become so popular in Michigan.  If Governor Rick Snyder gets his way, some of the revenue generated by taxing low-income families will likely to be used to pay for his proposed $1.5 billion cut in state business taxes.

Minnesota: The Republican leaders of Minnesota’s state legislature made clear this week that business tax cuts will be one of their top priorities.  One Senate leader has proposed cutting the state’s corporate income tax rate in half by 2017 and freezing statewide taxes on business property.  Fortunately, Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton is likely to vigorously oppose these cuts.

New Jersey: Democratic legislators are seriously considering a move to single sales factor apportionment for their corporate income tax.  The bill has already cleared the relevant committee, and will move to the full Senate soon.  See ITEP’s policy brief criticizing the single sales factor for state corporate income taxes.

Ohio: Ohio’s House and Governor have declared repealing the state's estate tax to be a top priority.  Local governments receive a majority of the revenue generated by Ohio’s estate tax, and therefore oppose its repeal.  Ohio’s House leaders would also like to create a business tax credit for hiring new employees.

Wisconsin: Governor Scott Walker has proposed a variety of business tax breaks and, as in Maine, the creation of a supermajority requirement to raise taxes.  More bad ideas are almost certain to come from Wisconsin in the weeks ahead, as Governor Walker made clear during last year’s campaign that he supports the outright repeal of Wisconsin’s corporate income tax.

Earlier this week ITEP released A Capital Idea: Repealing State Tax Breaks for Capital Gains Would Ease Budget Woes and Improve Tax Fairness. The report takes a hard look at the eight states that currently give special treatment to capital gains income including: Arkansas, Hawaii, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Carolina, Vermont, and Wisconsin.

The report finds that the benefits of state capital gains tax breaks go almost exclusively to the very best off taxpayers. In fact, in the eight states highlighted, between 95 and 100 percent of the state tax cuts from these tax breaks goes to the richest 20 percent of taxpayers.

Capital gains tax breaks also come with a pretty large price tag.  In tax year 2010, these eight states will lose about $490 million due to these loopholes, with losses ranging from $14 million to $151 million per state. These revenue losses represent a substantial share of currently-forecast budget deficits in several of these states.

ITEP finds that these preferences are costly, inequitable, and ineffective, depriving states of millions of dollars in needed funds, benefitting almost exclusively the very wealthiest members of society, and failing to promote economic growth in the manner their proponents claim. State policymakers cannot afford to maintain these tax breaks any longer.

Like the federal and state governments, local governments are having a difficult time balancing budgets right now. One option is to close tax loopholes.

The Institute on Wisconsin’s Future recently released their report detailing how property tax exemptions are hurting local communities' ability to provide basic services. This helpful report urges a review of all 104 property tax exemptions currently on the books in Wisconsin.

While the authors admit, “There is no one silver bullet that repairs the entire system,” certainly we could all agree that “Property tax revenue is a major source of local operating funds. It is a time to be careful and efficient with this resource. It is time to close loopholes, be consistent and ensure that all groups pay their fair share.”

Tax increases on low-income working families hit hardest by the economic downturn are on the table in a handful of states, where lawmakers are considering eliminating or reducing their state Earned Income Tax Credits (EITC) as one small “solution” to their large budget shortfalls.  The proposal under consideration in Wisconsin is perhaps the most egregious, where governor-elect Scott Walker has also pledged to cut taxes for his state’s wealthiest households and corporations. 

In search of reasons to “examine” and potentially cut the credit, Wisconsin lawmakers have begun to voice concerns about the increased cost of their EITC program.  But the reason for this increase is obvious: millions of Americans are experiencing reduced work hours and wages, or are without a job at all, as a result of the lingering economic downturn.  This means that more families are in need of the additional income assistance the credit provides to help pay for food, housing, transportation, and other necessities. Proposals to cut state EITCs amount to kicking these vulnerable families while they're down.

Furthermore, the federal government recently recognized the hardship these families are facing and decided to expand the benefits of the federal EITC program.  Since state EITCs are calculated as a percentage of the federal credit, this translates into a very small increase in the cost of state EITCs.  Reducing these state EITCs now would essentially cancel out some of the much needed progress being made on this issue.

Unfortunately, state lawmakers will continue to grapple with significant budget dilemmas in 2011 and beyond.  But balancing their budgets on the backs of those families hit hardest by the recession should be a nonstarter.   When asked about the potential threat to Wisconsin’s EITC, Jon Peacock of the Wisconsin Council on Children said, “We would have to question the priorities of any politicians willing to cut the EITC while refusing to adjust the minimum wage for inflation and insisting on giving tax breaks to the wealthiest households."

State EITCs provide affordable, effective, and targeted assistance to the growing number of individuals and families living in poverty.  Rather than eliminating state EITCs, now is exactly the time for states to consider enacting more of these valuable programs, or expanding existing EITCs.

For a review of the most significant state tax actions across the country this year and a preview for what’s to come in 2011, check out ITEP’s new report, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: 2010 State Tax Policy Changes.

"Good" actions include progressive or reform-minded changes taken to close large state budget gaps. Eliminating personal income tax giveaways, expanding low-income credits, reinstating the estate tax, broadening the sales tax base, and reforming tax credits are all discussed.  

Among the “bad” actions state lawmakers took this year, which either worsened states’ already bleak fiscal outlook or increased taxes on middle-income households, are the repeal of needed tax increases, expanded capital gains tax breaks, and the suspension of property tax relief programs.  

“Ugly” changes raised taxes on the low-income families most affected by the economic downturn, drastically reduced state revenues in a poorly targeted manner, or stifled the ability of states and localities to raise needed revenues in the future. Reductions to low-income credits, permanently narrowing the personal income tax base, and new restrictions on the property tax fall into this category.

The report also includes a look at the state tax policy changes — good, bad, and ugly — that did not happen in 2010.  Some of the actions not taken would have significantly improved the fairness and adequacy of state tax systems, while others would have decimated state budgets and/or made state tax systems more regressive.

2011 promises to be as difficult a year as 2010 for state tax policy as lawmakers continue to grapple with historic budget shortfalls due to lagging revenues and a high demand for public services.  The report ends with a highlight of the state tax policy debates that are likely to play out across the country in the coming year.

Good Jobs First (GJF) released three new resources this week explaining how your state is doing when it comes to letting taxpayers know about the plethora of subsidies being given to private companies.  These resources couldn’t be more timely.  As GJF’s Executive Director Greg LeRoy explained, “with states being forced to make painful budget decisions, taxpayers expect economic development spending to be fair and transparent.”

The first of these three resources, Show Us The Subsidies, grades each state based on its subsidy disclosure practices.  GJF finds that while many states are making real improvements in subsidy disclosure, many others still lag far behind.  Illinois, Wisconsin, North Carolina, and Ohio did the best in the country according to GJF, while thirteen states plus DC lack any disclosure at all and therefore earned an “F.”  Eighteen additional states earned a “D” or “D-minus.”

While the study includes cash grants, worker training programs, and loan guarantees, much of its focus is on tax code spending, or “ tax expenditures.”  Interestingly, disclosure of company-specific information appears to be quite common for state-level tax breaks.  Despite claims from business lobbyists that tax subsidies must be kept anonymous in order to protect trade secrets, GJF was able to find about 50 examples of tax credits, across about two dozen states, where company-specific information is released.  In response to the business lobby, GJF notes that “the sky has not fallen” in these states.

The second tool released by GJF this week, called Subsidy Tracker, is the first national search engine for state economic development subsidies.  By pulling together information from online sources, offline sources, and Freedom of Information Act requests, GJF has managed to create a searchable database covering more than 43,000 subsidy awards from 124 programs in 27 states.  Subsidy Tracker puts information that used to be difficult to find, nearly impossible to search through, or even previously unavailable, on the Internet all in one convenient location.  Tax credits, property tax abatements, cash grants, and numerous other types of subsidies are included in the Subsidy Tracker database.

Finally, GJF also released Accountable USA, a series of webpages for all 50 states, plus DC, that examines each state’s track record when it comes to subsidies.  Major “scams,” transparency ratings for key economic development programs, and profiles of a few significant economic development deals are included for each state.  Accountable USA also provides a detailed look at state-specific subsidies received by Wal-Mart.

These three resources from Good Jobs First will no doubt prove to be an invaluable resource for state lawmakers, advocates, media, and the general public as states continue their steady march toward improved subsidy disclosure.