Archives: Pension Reform / Articles
Archives: Pension Reform / Articles (page 8)
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Volcker Alliance Calls For Greater Transparency and Integrity in State Budgeting
While 49 states have some kind of a balanced budget requirement, budget challenges are a stark reality for numerous states. When lawmakers use temporary fixes to…
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ALEC Honors Oklahoma Representative Randy McDaniel as 2015 Legislator of the Year
In 2014, Oklahoma policymakers took a bold step to secure the financial future for current and future state employees. Those leaders passed a reform package that transitioned the state…
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Vermont’s Soft Drink Tax Is a Nightmare for Small Businesses
Vermont consumers have an unwelcome surprise at the cash register: a new six-percent sales tax on their favorite soft drink. This session, Vermont passed $63 million in new taxes,…
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State of the States Report: Pro-Taxpayer Innovation on the Rise
Nonpartisan fiscal watchdog group State Budget Solutions estimates total debt in the states is at least $5 trillion. Clearly, state governments need new solutions to address today’s fiscal…
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What State Governments Can Do to Protect Their Citizens from an Economic Downturn
Today was a rough day for global financial markets. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted more than 1,000 points before recovering some of the lost ground. All told, the Dow…
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Puerto Rico’s Debt Crisis: Mitigating the Current Crisis and Preventing Future Ones
On August 3rd, Puerto Rico failed to pay $58 million to its Public Finance Corporation creditors. Nearly a month earlier, ALEC Tax and Fiscal Policy Research Analyst…
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California Budget Fails to Address Long-Term Fiscal Stability
California’s newly enacted budget for 2015-2016 falls short of properly addressing the institutional budget troubles the state has faced for years. The California budget shows some steps in the…
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CBO Adopts Dynamic Scoring; States Should Follow
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is moving forward with adopting a new “scoring” method to evaluate major changes in tax policy. The CBO currently uses “static” scoring, which…
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New Study: Low Tax Rates Attract Valuable Talent
A new study from the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) about state taxes found an interesting correlation that supports states using tax policy to compete with rivals for…
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Budget Debate Highlights Pennsylvania’s Need for Fundamental Tax and Pension Reform
Despite very different opinions on how to fix the budget, Pennsylvania legislators and the governor have agreed on something: there is a $1.2 billion budget shortfall. In the words…
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Jonathan Williams Discusses Pennsylvania’s Competitiveness on PMA Perspective
Jonathan Williams Discusses Pennsylvania’s Competitiveness on PMA Perspective On Sunday night, Vice President for the Center for State Fiscal Reform, Jonathan Williams, joined Carl Marrara of the Pennsylvania Manufacturers Association…
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Taxing the Cloud: Chicago Decides to Tax Residents for Using Netflix
Can a city tax the cloud? Not the type of cloud in the sky, but the technological cloud. Netflix. Spotify. Pandora. Amazon. These companies have become massive suppliers of cloud-based…
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Colorado’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights: Thoughtful Spending Limitations Can Protect Taxpayers
Jonathan Williams, the Vice President of the ALEC Center for State Fiscal Reform, recently spoke at a Cato Institute Capitol Hill briefing titled, “Proven Strategies to Restrain Spending: An International…
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Jonathan Williams Discusses New State of the States Report on The Wall Street Journal’s Opinion Journal Live
Jonathan Williams, Vice President for the Center for State Fiscal Reform at the American Legislative Exchange Council, was recently interviewed by Mary Kissel of The Wall Street Journal’s Opinion…
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Connecticut Set to Raise Taxes, Businesses Consider Relocation
By: Ben Wilterdink and Harry Riegel Connecticut is quickly becoming the poster child for uncompetitive economic policy. As Connecticut lawmakers rushed the latest budget proposal to the governor’s desk, businesses…
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New Report Reviews Governors’ State-of-the-State Addresses
Today, the Center for State Fiscal Reform released a new report on the tax and fiscal policy proposals of the 50 state governors in their state-of-the-state addresses. State of…
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A Capital Gains Tax Would Hurt Economic Opportunity in Washington State
Washington state has a competitive advantage when compared to neighboring states because the state does not currently levy a tax on wage income or capital gains. In fact, the state’s…
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Texas Legislature Passes Significant New Tax Relief and Continues to Lead on Pro-Growth Reforms
As the Texas Legislature finished its 2015 session, lawmakers from the Lone Star State have once again approved a tax relief measure that will only add to the Texas reputation…
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An Open Letter to Kansas Lawmakers: All Taxes Hinder Economic Growth…But Some Taxes are Worse Than Others
On May 20, 2015, ALEC CEO Lisa B. Nelson and Vice President of the Center for State Fiscal Reform Jonathan Williams distributed the following letter to lawmakers in the Kansas…
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U.S. Supreme Court Rules Maryland Double Taxation Unconstitutional
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court decided in a 5-4 decision that Maryland residents cannot be taxed twice on money they earn from out-of-state. The Center for State Fiscal Reform…