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ALEC in RealClear Politics: ‘Great Opportunity Project’ Spreads Best State Economic Policies Nationwide

While Biden is seeking to contract the size of the private economy through tax increases, numerous states are making positive reforms, including cutting taxes, to expand economic opportunity and well-being for their residents.

REALCLEAR POLITICS

By Alfredo Ortiz & Jonathan Williams

Next Monday is Tax Day, the last day for Americans to file their 2021 tax returns. This year’s Tax Day coincides with President Biden’s recent proposal to raise taxes on small businesses, corporations, and individuals by $2.5 trillion. His plan would partly reverse the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act signed at the end of 2017 that led to historic shared economic prosperity in 2018 and 2019.

While Biden is seeking to contract the size of the private economy through tax increases, numerous states are making positive reforms, including cutting taxes, to expand economic opportunity and well-being for their residents. Rather than fixating on Washington, policymakers can harness these best practices in the states and, eventually, adopt them at the federal level when the political climate allows. Call it the Great Opportunity Project.

Consider the 13 states that cut income taxes in 2021, helping residents and small businesses combat inflation costs and improve their economic situation. In Arizona, Gov. Doug Ducey cut the state’s income tax rate of 8% and 4.5%, depending on earnings, eventually to a flat 2.5% – the lowest rate among states with an income tax. This tax cut will accelerate Arizona’s booming economy and keep it as a beacon for refugees fleeing California, whose top tax rate is 13.3%, and nearly 10% for the middle class.