State Rundown 1/29: You Put a Tax Cut In, You Take a Tax Cut Out

In the latest twist out of Arkansas, a House committee stripped Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s proposed middle-class tax cut of a capital gains tax measure added just last week in the Senate. The governor’s proposal as passed by the Senate would have reduced the exemption on capital gains from the 50 percent exclusion passed in 2013 to the 30 percent exclusion in effect previously. The House bill would restore the 50 percent exclusion for one year, and then allow the exclusion to fall to 40 percent after that. The House version of the governor’s bill will cost $9 million more each year than the Senate bill. The move is likely to further alienate progressive groups in Arkansas, who previously offered tepid support for the governor’s plan while criticizing its omission of the working poor. Progressives were further angered by the governor’s budget proposal, which did not include promised increases in funding for pre-kindergarten. Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families notes that “Even before the 2013 capital gains tax cut, Arkansas already had one of the most generous capital gains structures in the nation.”

While many politicians and businesspeople decry inverted companies as unpatriotic for avoiding their US tax liability while taking advantage of all our country has to offer, a legislator in Virginia has other ideas. Sen. Ryan McDougle recently introduced a bill that would create a $5 million corporate income tax exemption for companies that have used an inversion to lower their US tax liability. Qualifying companies would need to make a $5 million capital investment in Virginia to open a facility or other business operation, and would be eligible for the exemption each year for five years. It’s just the latest move in the depressing race to the bottom on corporate taxes.

A Maryland state senator has offered a bill that would repeal a stormwater fee he once supported. Sen. James Brochin wants to get rid of the so-called “rain tax,” a hot issue in the last gubernatorial campaign, because he claims local jurisdictions have applied the fee unevenly and put businesses at a competitive disadvantage (this aspect of the law was a part of the bill at the time the senator voted for it). Brochin also regrets supporting a bill that indexed the state’s gas tax to the Consumer Price Index (CPI), saying, “If you took the CPI idea and you had passed it in 1993, 21 years later the gas tax would be $1.86 [per gallon].” His math is a little fuzzy. Indexing MD’s gas tax to inflation (CPI) since 1993 would mean the base rate would go from 23.5 cents to 38.5 cents.  On top of that, there’s a 5 percent sales tax on gas phasing-in that would add about 12 cents a gallon to the gas tax at today’s prices, for a total gas tax of 50.5 cents, not $1.86.  For the tax rate to hit $1.86, gas prices would have to be $29.50 per gallon – which won’t happen anytime soon.

Maine Gov. Paul LePage is expected to push his tax cut package in next week’s state of the state address. Under the governor’s proposed budget, individual and corporate income tax rates would be cut, the estate tax would be eliminated, and the sales tax would be broadened and increased. The governor described his plan as a way to move the state from an income-based tax system to a “pay-as-you-go” consumption-based tax system. In other words, the state would shift the way it funds public investments from relying on a progressive personal income tax to a broad- based sales tax which falls disproportionately on low- and middle-income families.

A bill to enact a property tax circuit breaker credit in Nebraska received a hearing in the state legislature today. The proposal, offered by Sen. Kate Bolz, would offer property tax rebates up to $1,200 to couples who make under $116,000 a year or individuals making under $58,000.  It is designed to target relief to residents whose property taxes or rents are high relative to their incomes. ITEP analyzed the bill and found that two-thirds of the benefits of the property tax circuit breaker credit would go to the bottom 40 percent of Nebraskan taxpayers.

Following Up:

• North Carolina: NC Policy Watch drew attention to a new Berkeley study that shows the federal capital gains tax cuts under President George W. Bush failed to stimulate the economy. State leaders are pushing to eliminate North Carolina’s capital gains tax to increase investment.
• Minnesota: A Senate committee voted to consider proposals to phase out the state’s tax on Social Security benefits as part of a larger tax package yesterday. Seniors and the Minnesota AARP voiced support for the measures, while some legislators balked at the price tag.
• Mississippi: Gov. Phil Bryant’s plan to cut taxes drew more opposition, most recently in a Clarion-Ledger op-ed: “Bryant exuded optimism that the state’s economy was in the best financial condition ever. He didn’t dare mention that the primary source of income for Mississippians is transfer funds–namely federal funds.”

Things We Missed:

• Florida Gov. Rick Scott released his budget proposal yesterday
• Washington Gov. Jay Inslee wrote an op-ed in The Seattle Stranger using ITEP numbers to offer a full-throated argument for making Washington’s tax system fairer.