Governing magazine has a great webpage linking to each Governor's State of the State address for 2013. I just went through them (some have yet to be given), and below summarize references to taxA tax is a mandatory payment or charge collected by local, state, and national governments from individuals or businesses to cover the costs of general government services, goods, and activities. proposals from each speech.
- Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell (R) proposed revising oil taxes to be based on production rather than spending, and cutting unemployment insurance taxes to reduce reserves.
- Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) pointed to the coming expiration of a 2010 sales taxA sales tax is levied on retail sales of goods and services and, ideally, should apply to all final consumption with few exemptions. Many governments exempt goods like groceries; base broadening, such as including groceries, could keep rates lower. A sales tax should exempt business-to-business transactions which, when taxed, cause tax pyramiding. increase in May, and urged implementation of a commission’s recommendations for better local sales tax uniformity.
- Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe (D) urged complete repeal of the sales tax on groceries.
- California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) urged spending restraint following the passage of new Proposition 30 taxes and referenced the state’s sales tax agreement with Amazon.com.
- Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) called for reforming constitutional rules relating to fiscal policy.
- Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy (D) referenced his tax increases from two years ago.
- Delaware Gov. Jack Markell (D) said that taxes should remain low but should not be unaffordable. (He since proposed making permanent a series of temporary tax increases scheduled to end in 2014.)
- Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal (R) referenced a modest tax change bill approved last year, and quoted Tax Foundation data on tax collections.
- Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie (D) defended reforms to green energy tax credits, advocated an increase to the real estate transfer tax, and urged greater pursuit of unpaid tax bills.
- Idaho Gov. Butch Otter (R) criticized the state’s new jobs tax creditA tax credit is a provision that reduces a taxpayer’s final tax bill, dollar-for-dollar. A tax credit differs from deductions and exemptions, which reduce taxable income, rather than the taxpayer’s tax bill directly. as too complex and urged passage of a simplified version. He also called for elimination of the state’s personal property taxes (tax on business assets).
- Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R) proposed a 10 percent across-the-board reduction in income taxes.
- Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad (R) called for replacing local property taxes with shifted state aid.
- Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback (R) praised income tax reductions passed last year, and called for cutting the rate further to 3.5 percent, and eventually, zero.
- Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D) called for increasing the income tax from 5.25% to 6.25% and reducing the sales tax from 6.25% to 4.5%, with the additional revenue dedicated to transportation.
- Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) referenced recently enacted personal property tax reform, severance tax reform, and unemployment insurance tax reform.
- Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman (R) referenced Nebraska’s Tax Foundation rankings and called for sales tax broadening to pay for income tax reductions.
- Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval (R) called for further reductions to the state payroll taxA payroll tax is a tax paid on the wages and salaries of employees to finance social insurance programs like Social Security, Medicare, and unemployment insurance. Payroll taxes are social insurance taxes that comprise 24.8 percent of combined federal, state, and local government revenue, the second largest source of that combined tax revenue. .
- New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) noted several times that he has not increased taxes.
- New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) called for the creation of tax-free “innovation hotspot” zones.
- Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber (D) called for reviewing tax credits, incentives, and deductions.
- South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) recommended eliminating one income tax bracketA tax bracket is the range of incomes taxed at given rates, which typically differ depending on filing status. In a progressive individual or corporate income tax system, rates rise as income increases. There are seven federal individual income tax brackets; the federal corporate income tax system is flat. and promised to oppose a gasoline tax increase.
- Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin (D) proposed replacing the state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) with a child care tax credit.
- Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) proposed a research & development tax credit.
- Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) announced he will unveil an income tax reduction plan as part of his budget proposal.
- Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead (R) called for refilling the state rainy day fund and increasing the gasoline tax.