Michigan’s Tax Gamble Could Risk Its Competitive Edge
Michigan voters may soon consider a dramatic change to the state’s income tax.
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Progressive Income Tax on the Ballot in Michigan?
If Michiganders are interested in increasing the state’s spending on education or other priorities—and believe that current revenues are insufficient to support such an increase—there are several ways to do so without significantly affecting residents’ incentives to live and work in Michigan.
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Momentum Slows for State Drug Legalization Policies via 2024 State Ballot Initiatives
With the significant potential for state revenues, and the prior political success of arguments that legalization can shift consumers to safer legal markets, it seems likely that states will continue to see legislation and ballot initiatives to legalize marijuana at the state level—even states that failed to do so this election.
5 min read
Oregon Measure 118 Is an $8 Billion Tax Increase That Raids $2 Billion from the State Budget
Due to the peculiar design of the proposed tax increase, it’s true: the largest tax increase Oregon has ever seen would create a substantial budget shortfall.
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South Dakota’s Initiated Measure 28 Undermines Sales Tax Rate Reductions
Especially for a state that relies so heavily on the sales tax as a source of revenue—and where most people want to keep it that way—a broad base and a low rate is crucial.
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Georgia Amendment 1 Threatens the State’s Housing Market
Georgia should focus on policies that restrict the overall growth of property taxes, not policies that functionally freeze property taxes for current owners by shifting costs onto new owners and into the sales tax.
6 min read
Before Repealing the Property Tax, Look Under the Hood
If voters are being asked to charge state legislators with raising the equivalent of a doubling of the current income and sales tax, shouldn’t they get to know what the plan is first?
Oregon Measure 118 Penalizes Oregon Small Businesses
Under the tax created by Measure 118, Oregon businesses would be significantly disadvantaged against their larger and out-of-state rivals.
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Oregon Measure 118 Is an Aggressive Sales Tax—and Worse
Oregon’s Measure 118, though presented as a tax on big business, would function as an aggressive sales tax on consumers.
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Wyoming Voters to Consider Property Tax Changes, but Sound Property Tax Relief Is Not on the Ballot
Nationwide, property owners have experienced surges in valuations and are demanding tax relief. Lawmakers are right to find ways to provide it, but should do so with sound tax principles in mind.
5 min read
State Tax Ballot Measures to Watch in 2024
Taxes are on the ballot this November—not just in the sense that candidates at all levels are offering their visions for tax policy, but also in the literal sense that voters in some states will get to decide important questions about how their states raise revenue.
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North Dakota Considers Eliminating Property Taxes
Eliminating the property tax will unfortunately set North Dakota back in significant ways, making the state a national outlier and eroding regional competitiveness.
6 min read
Oregon Ballot Measure Would Yield Sky-High Business Tax Rates
The all-in Oregon state and local tax rate on large businesses could exceed 56 percent under a proposed ballot measure that purports to impose only a small tax increase on large businesses.
6 min read
Montana Enacts Strong Reforms—Now, It’s Time for Sound Property Tax Relief
Montana Policymakers should pursue principled property tax reform that benefits all property owners without creating market distortions or unfairly shifting the tax burden.
5 min read
Cannabis Taxes Back on the Ballot in 2022
While changes to federal cannabis law are slow, changes at the state level are accelerating. Recreational cannabis is on the ballot in five states this November—Arkansas, Maryland, Missouri, North Dakota, and South Dakota—giving voters the ability to join 19 states that have already legalized recreational marijuana.
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State Tax Ballot Measures to Watch on Election Day 2022
From income tax changes to cannabis legalization and taxation, here’s what voters decided on Election Day.
6 min read
Coloradans Could Lower Their Income Taxes This Fall
When Coloradans go to the polls this November, they will be given the opportunity to permanently lower their income taxes—or to increase those tax burdens.
4 min read
California Can’t Give Up Tax Increases
California is no stranger to high taxes, and the state has enough going for it that its economy can withstand higher tax burdens than would be viable in other parts of the country. But there’s always a tipping point.
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West Virginia Voters Will Determine the Scope of Potential State Tax Reform
West Virginia Amendment 2 would not directly reduce tangible personal property taxes—on cars, inventory, or machinery and equipment. It would, however, empower the legislature to consider such reforms.
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Doing Tax Policy at the Ballot Is Not for the Faint of Heart
Some tax ballot initiatives will be straightforward, some will be complex, and—let’s be honest—some will be a drafting nightmare.
5 min read