Janelle Fritts

Policy Analyst

Janelle Fritts was a Policy Analyst with the Tax Foundation’s Center for State Tax Policy. She is the lead researcher on the annual State Business Tax Climate Index and was one of the lead authors of Pro-Growth Tax Reform for Oklahoma. Her work has been cited in The New York Times, the Associated Press, Bloomberg, and numerous state media outlets across the country.

Before joining the Tax Foundation team, Janelle interned at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, the Reason Foundation, and the Illinois Policy Institute. She graduated from Dordt College (Sioux Center, Iowa) with a bachelor’s degree in English with a writing emphasis and a minor in Chemistry.

Janelle was born and raised in Midland, Michigan, which is near Lake Huron and about halfway up the “mitten.” In her free time, she enjoys rock climbing, hiking, swing dancing, and singing. You’ll also find her rocking out to metal in Roxanne, her bright yellow Celica.

Latest Work

marriage penalty, marriage tax penalty in their tax brackets,
Data

Does Your State Have a Marriage Penalty?

A marriage penalty is when married couples filing jointly face a higher effective tax rate than they would if they filed as two single individuals with the same amount of combined income.

2 min read
state sales tax rates, local sales tax rates, 2019 state sales taxes, 2019 local sales taxes, state sales tax base
Data

State and Local Sales Tax Rates, Midyear 2019

The role of competition in setting sales tax rates is often overlooked. One study shows that per capita sales in border counties in sales tax-free New Hampshire have tripled since the late 1950s, while per capita sales in border counties in Vermont have remained stagnant.

13 min read