Tax cut one-upmanship continues to be a major theme in the race to be Maryland’s next governor. As of right now, at least two gubernatorial candidates want to completely eliminate the state’s personal income tax–a revenue source that funds about half of the state’s spending on schools, hospitals, and various other services. In terms of how to pay for this massive cut, the best that Harford County Executive David Craig could come up with is a 3 percent across-the-board spending cut (that math seems a little fishy to us), while businessman and candidate Charles Loller seems to have bought into Arthur Laffer’s wild claims that tax cuts pay for themselves. But even if the cost of repeal weren’t an issue, it’s still the case that the personal income tax is an essential element of any fair and sustainable tax system, and should not be on the chopping block in any state.

Lawmakers in Iowa are poised to give NASCAR a $9 million tax rebate. The bill (PDF), which passed a key Senate subcommittee last week, would extend a five percent rebate for all sales tax collected at Iowa Speedway, a racetrack located about 30 miles outside of Des Moines. The sweetheart deal had originally required that the track be owned at least 25 percent by Iowans, but the Florida-based NASCAR company bought the track last year, prompting legislators to scramble to amend the law. (Racetrack owners are already the beneficiary of a notorious federal tax break, which is part of the group of tax “extenders” currently languishing in Congress.) It is unclear why NASCAR, a profitable company in its own right, needs the handout. It already owns the facility and has plans to host four races there in 2014. Some in the state are hoping that the rebate will be used to upgrade the track so that it can host a lucrative Sprint Cup race, but NASCAR has made no such promise.

Our colleagues at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) have seen a lot of attention directed toward their analysis of an Oklahoma proposal to cut the state’s top income tax rate–including two opinion pieces, a front-page news story, and a paid advertisement (PDF) taken out by the state’s former Governor. While the top rate cut proposed by current Governor Mary Fallin is extremely lopsided (contrast a $29 tax cut for a middle-income family with a $2,000+ tax cut at the top), it appears that the Senate has some interest in improving upon the bill. Rather than simply cutting the top tax rate and slashing public investments, the Senate’s tax-writing committee recently advanced a bill that pairs the cut with a very sensible expansion of the state’s income tax base: eliminating the nonsensical state income tax deduction for state income taxes paid.

House of Cards–a Netflix show about politicians making bad decisions–is trying to get Maryland’s politicians to make some bad decisions in real life. The Media Rights Capital production company says they’ll shoot the third season of their program elsewhere unless lawmakers direct more taxpayer dollars their way in the form of an expanded film tax credit. Upon learning of the threat, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle had some entirely appropriate reactions: “Is it possible that they would just leave after we gave them $31 million?” “We’re almost being held for ransom.” “When does it stop?”