Which state will be "the next California"? The Pew Center on the States has attempted to answer this question by evaluating the factors that led to California's budget crisis and identifying other states that face similar problems. "Beyond California: States in Fiscal Peril" shows that Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island and Wisconsin join California as the most troubled states. In this week's podcast, Susan Urahn, Managing Director of the Pew Center on the States, discusses what these states have in common and other key trends of the study. "The interesting thing about this group of states is even though they face many of the same pressures that California does, they're all very different," Urahn says.
The New York Superior Court recently heard oral arguments in the state's so-called "Amazon tax" case. In April 2008, New York Gov. David Paterson signed into a law a budget requiring that out-of-state online retailers collect sales taxes on purchases if the company does at least $10,000 worth of business with in-state affiliates. Amazon.com filed suit shortly thereafter, but the New York State Supreme Court - the state's trial-level court - ruled in favor of the state and upheld the so-called "Amazon tax."
Both the House bill and Senate Finance Committee plan are expected -- according to Congressional Budget Office and Joint Committee and Taxation projections -- to reduce the deficit, but whether large cuts to Medicare spending will actually happen remains to be seen. Regardless of whatever health care reform proposal emerges from Congress (or when), it appears tax increases are on the table.
Outside discussions of health care reform, reducing the deficit - whether through spending cuts or tax increases or both - is a policy priority on both sides of the aisle. As the Tax Foundation has reported, higher taxes alone cannot erase the deficit.
This week's podcast guest is Jim Pethokoukis, the Money & Politics columnist and blogger for Reuters. Jim discusses health care reform, the deficit, economic recovery and the possibility of a federal value added tax (VAT).
To listen to the podcast: Play the audio above or right-click on the audio file below, and select "Save Target As."
The 2009 election is an off-year election for most states. Gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia have taken the spotlight when it comes to election coverage. But several state ballots on Tuesday will feature taxpayer-related measures - notably, Maine's Question 4, which would institute a "Taxpayer Bill of Rights" to restrict state and local government spending an require voter approval for any tax increases or spending over the established caps, and Washington's Initiative 1033, a similar tax and spending limit.
Discussing these and other measures on this week's podcast is Josh Culling, State Government Affairs Manager for the National Taxpayers Union, which recently published a ballot guide outlining ballot measures in many states that would affect taxpayers.
All of these factored in to New Jersey's recent last-place ranking in the Tax Foundation's 2010 State Business Tax Climate Index, which measure's states' tax-competitiveness.
Ohio Governor Ted Strickland recently announced a plan to freeze income tax cuts for two years in order to fund education. The cuts, totaling 21 percent, were scheduled to be phased in over five years at a rate of 4.2 percent a year.
Matt Mayer recently was named President of the Buckeye Institute in Columbus, OH. He joins us for this week's Tax Policy Podcast to discuss the governor's proposal and alternative solutions for Ohio's budget problems.
What is income redistribution? How would it change under President Obama's budget proposal? And what about health care reform?
Answering these questions and more on this week's Tax Policy Podcast is Tax Foundation President Scott Hodge, who recently authored three fiscal facts looking at income redistribution based on the Tax Foundation's fiscal incidence project.
The Tax Foundation recently released a report on property taxes compiled from the Census Bureau's 2008 American Community Survey, which found that homeowners in counties and states in the Northeast - especially New York and New Jersey - along with parts of the Midwest tend to pay the most in property taxes.
In this week's Tax Policy Podcast, Tax Foundation Senior Economist Gerald Prante discusses which counties and states have the highest and lowest median real estate taxes - both in dollars paid and as a percentage of median home value - and why.
This week, the Tax Foundation released its 2010 State Business Tax Climate Index, which measures how "business-friendly" a state's tax system is. Equally important to the question of how much states tax, which we answer in our annual State and Local Tax Burdens study, is the question of how those taxes are raised.
In this week's Tax Policy Podcast, Staff Economist Kail Padgitt, who authored Tax Foundation Background Paper No. 59, "2010 State Business Tax Climate Index," discusses which states have the best and worst tax systems for business, as well as some tax policy trends that contributed to this year's rankings.
After a several-month budget standoff between the Connecticut legislature and Governor Jodi Rell, the state budget became law two months after the new fiscal year began - without the governor's signature. In this week's Tax Policy Podcast, Fergus Cullen, Executive Director of the Yankee Institute for Public Policy in Connecticut, discusses the some of the new provisions.
With the majority of the debate on Capitol Hill focused on health care, cap and trade has seemingly slipped to the back burner -- for now. The Senate is expected to pick up cap-and-trade legislation this month.
A new analysis from the Heritage Foundation takes a look at the economic impact of the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill that passed the House of Representatives in June. This week's podcast features Nick Loris, a Research Assistant at The Heritage Foundation's Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies, and a co-author of the paper, titled "The Economic Consequences of Waxman-Markey: An Analysis of the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009." According to Loris, if enacted, Waxman-Markey would cause "very much economic pain for very little environmental gain."
Many state recently wrapped up back-to-school sales tax holidays, periods of time during which certain goods are exempted from the state (and sometimes local) sales tax. Sales tax holidays are politically popular not just for back to school items, but others such as energy-efficient products and hurricane-preparedness materials. However, they're also problematic for a number of reasons.
Even during Congress's August recess, the debate on health care reform continues to make headlines. The focus seemingly has shifted from a proposed surtax on the wealthy to fund an expansion in coverage to whether a public option insurance plan is "essential" to reform. But one issue has not received as much attention: the tax treatment of employer-provided health insurance.
In this week's podcast, Tax Foundation Manager of Media Relations Natasha Altamirano interviews Tax Foundation Senior Fellow Bob Carroll, Ph.D., on health care reform, how to pay for it, and the economic consequences of high tax rates.
This year, several states enacted "sin taxes" -- those targeting perceived negative behavior such as smoking or drinking - to help close budget deficits. The Tax Foundation has long argued against sin taxes as ineffective revenue sources; they're simply a way for government to micromanage the economy by punishing certain industries. Nonetheless, sin taxes have remained popular as politicians tout them as ways to discourage certain activities. A July paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research provides an interesting look at sin taxes and their impact on the apparent "sinful" behavior at question.
California's Commission on the 21st Century Economy has until next month to finalize its recommendation for reforming the state's finances. This week's Tax Policy Podcast features Dr. Steven Sheffrin, a Professor of Economics at the University California Davis, Director of the Center for State and Local Taxation, and former dean of social sciences. Dr. Sheffrin is the author of many books and articles on state taxation and has served on the Board of Directors of the National Tax Association.
The Senate Judiciary Committee approved Judge Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court Tuesday after a sometimes contentious confirmation hearing that covered a lot of ground. One area, however, that has not received as much attention is her judicial philosophy on tax issues. In this week's podcast, Tax Foundation Manager of Media Relations Natasha Altamirano interviews Travis Greaves, a law clerk with the Tax Foundation's Center for Legal Reform, who recently published Tax Foundation Fiscal Fact No. 178, which takes a look at Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's judicial record when it comes to tax-related cases.
Pennsylvania is among several states that began the new fiscal year without a budget in place. As Matt Brouillette, President and CEO of the Commonwealth Foundation in Pennsylvania explains in this week's Tax Policy Podcast, it's been seven years since the state legislature has passed an on-time budget. Interviewed by Tax Foundation Manager of Media Relations Natasha Altamirano, Brouillette discusses the current budget battle in Pennsylvania, his organization's involvement in the fight, and potential solutions.
Maine recently passed the most sweeping changes to the state's tax code since the establishment of its income tax in 1969—in part due to the efforts of State Representative John Piotti, who introduced LD 1088, a bill that included a single flat rate individual income tax of 6.5 percent and an expansion of the sales tax. The legislation passed both the state House of Representatives and Senate in June, but at the urging of Governor Baldacci, the reforms were altered and reintroduced as LD 1495, which ultimately was signed into law.
Tax Foundation Staff Economist Kail Padgitt, who authored Tax Foundation Fiscal Fact No. 174 examining both proposals, interviews Representative Piotti.
Income redistribution has been a hot topic since President Obama told "Joe the Plumber" on the campaign trail that "when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody." New analysis of President Obama's Budget finds that he is targeting the nation's highest earners for greater income redistributions. By 2012, the federal government is scheduled to be redistributing an extra $79 billion from the top-earning 5 percent of American families, and $71 billion of that will be paid by the top-earning 1 percent of families.
In this edition of the Tax Policy Podcast, Manager of Media Relations Natasha Altamirano interviews Senior Economist Gerald Prante, who discusses the Tax Foundation's "fiscal incidence" model, a computer simulation of the U.S. fiscal system with an innovation: It measures the redistributive effects of both spending and tax policies.
The Hawaii Legislature forced through several tax increases near the end of the legislative session, including raising the income tax as well as excise taxes on cigarettes and other tobacco products. With the exception of the cigarette tax increase, all these tax hikes were vetoed by Governor Linda Lingle on May 7 in Hawaii's first-ever public veto ceremony attended by nearly a thousand taxpayers and citizens. However, on May 11 the state legislature was able to override each of the vetoes.
In this edition of the Tax Policy Podcast, Manager of State Relations Tonya Barr talks with Jamie Story, President of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, discussing how these tax increases could affect the Aloha State's residents and businesses.
Fiscal policy in the Garden State reads like a "what not to do" for policymakers and stakeholders. The corporate income tax combines a high rate, onerous rules, and lavish subsidies for the politically connected. The sales tax is one of the highest in the country. The state is one of five in the country to adopt a heavy individual income tax on high-income earners, which has reduced economic activity in the state. New Jersey residents also pay more property tax per capita than residents of any other state.
In this edition of the Tax Policy Podcast, Tax Foundation manager of media relations Matt Moon talks with director of state projects Joseph Henchman about the tax proposals of three gubernatorial candidates in New Jersey: incumbent Gov. Jon Corzine (D), former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie (R) and former Bogota mayor Steve Lonegan (R). Next Tuesday, June 2, New Jersey will be holding primary elections, and the gubernatorial candidates have been talking taxes, mirroring the national concern with revenue and spending.
President Obama has recently proposed to raise more than $100 billion in new tax revenues from U.S. businesses by restricting their ability to defer paying taxes on profits earned abroad. The Obama administration has also fused the issue of tax deferral with the unrelated issues of bank secrecy and tax havens.
In this edition of the Tax Policy Podcast, Tax Foundation Manager of Media Relations Matt Moon talks with Senior Research Fellow Robert Carroll, Ph.D. Carroll was the former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Tax Analysis under Hank Paulson in the previous administration. Carroll goes through the differences between tax havens and tax competition, America's place in the world when it comes to corporate taxes, and the case study of Great Britain and their experience with global tax competition.
An issue that taxpayers and officials across the country are following this year is state budgets. In January, the Tax Foundation released a report on the issue, looking at the 45 states with budget shortfalls.
Taxes are a very important part of how different states fare economically, but it's not the only important variable. In this edition of the Tax Policy Podcast, Staff Economist Josh Barro talks with Jonathan Williams, Director of the Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force at the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Williams discusses a new report from ALEC which he, along with Dr. Arthur B. Laffer and Stephen Moore, authored: Rich States, Poor States, a measure of each states' economic competitiveness. Besides taxes, the report also goes over debt service, public employees, state liability systems, minimum wage and workers' compensation regulations.
In this week's edition of the Tax Policy Podcast, Manager of State Relations Tonya Barr talks with Joseph Coletti, Fiscal and Health Care Policy Analyst at the John Locke Foundation in Raleigh, North Carolina. Joe goes through foundation's new report, "Tax Reform in North Carolina," which recommends instituting a flat "consumed income tax," repeal of the corporate income tax and the elimination of all special tax breaks for new and existing businesses.
To listen to the podcast: Play the audio above or right-click on the audio file below, and select "Save Target As."
The Tax Policy Podcast is the official podcast of the Tax Foundation, a non-partisan, non-profit research organization that has monitored tax policy at the federal, state and local levels since 1937. Our economists welcome your feedback via email: podcast@taxfoundation.org.
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Disclaimer: All views expressed in the Tax Foundation's Tax Policy Podcast are those of the individual guests, and do not necessarily represent the views of the Tax Foundation, its Board of Directors, or its financial contributors. The Tax Foundation makes no representation concerning the views expressed, and does not guarantee the source, originality, accuracy, completeness or reliability of any statement, information, data, finding, interpretation, advice, opinion, or view presented.
