We retired Tax Justice Blog in April 2017. For new content on issues related to tax justice, go to www.justtaxesblog.org
TABOR stands for Taxpayer Bill of Rights, but it’s really a destructive law that restricts tax and spending growth with the goal of starving government. Colorado has the most restrictive version of this kind of law and serves as a cautionary tale. The Colorado TABOR and its implications are described in a new policy brief from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP). In a nutshell, TABOR’s arbitrary limit on the size of government prevents states from meeting their evolving responsibilities as populations change, services become more expensive, and voters demand new public investments.
Texas Governor Rick Perry is headed to Missouri to stump for a regressive income tax cut that some legislators are trying to enact over Governor Nixon’s recent veto. If Show Me State residents ignore Perry’s advice, who could blame them? The former presidential candidate’s own state’s tax system is one of the least fair in the country. Only five states require their poorest residents to pay more in taxes than Texas.
Indiana’s property tax caps, which we’ve long criticized, are causing headaches for local lawmakers in Indianapolis who are facing pleas from law enforcement and other agencies for more funds. Coupled with the revenue slump brought on by the recent recession, officials are grappling with three choices: close their current budget gap by raising the city’s income tax; risk the city’s AAA credit rating by tapping its reserves; or enact even deeper cuts in public services on top of those already in effect.
It looks like taxes will be a hot issue in the 2014 Arkansas gubernatorial election. Arkansas’ leading republican candidate, Asa Hutchinson, recently said he supported phasing out the state’s personal income tax, but offered no specifics for how he would replace the lost revenue. Mike Ross, the leading Democratic candidate, took Hutchinson to task, reminding Arkansans that tax cuts come with a price: “So when you start talking about cutting taxes, unless you’re talking about shifting the burden to other taxes, you’re talking about laying off teachers, you’re talking about kicking seniors out of the nursing home…. It’s pretty simple math.”