Archives: State Budgets / Articles
Archives: State Budgets / Articles
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On Whose Tab? State Bonded Obligations Exceed $1.23 Trillion
The 4th edition of State Bonded Obligations reveals that states have issued over $1.23 trillion in bonded debt, equal to $3,700 for every man, woman, and child in the…
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California is Frankenstein’s Laboratory
In a new op-ed for The Orange County Register, the Senior Director of ALEC’s HHS Task Force joined with co-author Jon Coupal of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association to…
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A Successful Northeastern Regional Tax and Economic Policy Academy
This week, ALEC hosted the Northeastern Regional Tax and Economic Policy Academy. This three-day event brought together state legislators from across the region to learn about pro-growth tax and fiscal…
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Governor Abbott Talks Texas Success at ALEC Annual Meeting
At the 48th ALEC Annual Meeting in Salt Lake City, Governor Greg Abbott of Texas discussed economic prosperity in Texas. He noted that he was ranked first in the…
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A Great Week at the Great Lakes Tax and Economic Policy Academy
From August 18th – 20th, ALEC hosted the Great Lakes Regional Tax and Economic Policy Academy at Northwood University in Midland, Michigan. This three-day event brought together state legislators from across…
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40th Anniversary of Reagan’s Economic Recovery Tax Act
This week marks the 40th anniversary of the Economic Recovery Tax Act. President Ronald Reagan signed this groundbreaking tax legislation into law on August 13, 1981 from his beloved Rancho…
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OPEB: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
The Center for State Fiscal Reform at the American Legislative Exchange Council recently released “Other Post-Employment Benefit Liabilities: The Continuing Need for OPEB Reform,” the latest in a series of ALEC annual publications examining growing state financial liabilities.2 Our report continues to find that states with some of the highest tax rates (for example, California, Illinois, New Jersey, and New York) have some of the highest unfunded OPEB liabilities as well.
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Bonus Unemployment Payments in Maine: Stimulating or Stifling?
Maine Governor Janet Mills recently announced that the state will provide bonuses for those leaving unemployment to get back to work. The Pine Tree State will use federal funds…
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Congress Seeks to Expand Medicaid With or Without the States
Many in Congress are working to expand Medicaid in states where it has so far failed. Following passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, states were required to…
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Arizona Delivers COVID-19 Tax Relief
With the 2020 tax deadline approaching, Arizona Senate President Pro Tempore Vince Leach and House Majority Leader Ben Toma realized their state had not yet conformed its tax code to important relief provisions in the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Many states around the country conformed their state tax codes to the CARES Act to offer state-level tax relief, but Arizona’s tax code still applied pre-COVID-19 tax policy to income earners. Consequently, Arizona taxpayers’ 2020 tax liabilities became much higher than taxpayers in states that offered COVID-19 tax relief.
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New Census Report: Americans Continue to Vote with Their Feet in Favor of Economic Opportunity
The U.S. Census Bureau just announced its long-anticipated list of state winners and losers from the official 2020 apportionment count. With good reason, this is a huge news item for…
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President Biden’s Infrastructure Plan Brings Suspect Benefits at High Costs
Last week, Senator Kristen Gillibrand was mocked for tweeting a laundry list of progressive priorities that she claimed were infrastructure and deserved to be included in President Biden’s…
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How (Not) to Make it in New York: Albany’s Record-Breaking Taxes and Spending
Growing up just outside of New York City on Long Island, I’ve been hearing Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” for as long as I can remember. Sinatra famously…
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Were Future State Tax Cuts Just Cancelled by Uncle Sam?
The newly-minted American Rescue Plan Act includes $350 billion for State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds. This is despite early reports that show total state and local revenue…
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Workforce Development and Innovation in West Virginia
Update: Governor Justice signed the Jumpstart Savings Act into law on March 19. Last week our ALEC team was in West Virginia for an education workshop, and it’s clear that…
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Jonathan Williams Interviewed on PMA Perspective
Executive Vice President of Policy Jonathan Williams joined the Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association to discuss the latest edition on Rich States, Poor States.
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Should Congress Provide More Aid to States?
This article was originally published by CQ Researcher. States have received billions in federal aid via the $2 trillion Cares Act, and the Federal Reserve authorized up to $500…
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South Dakota’s Secret to Success
During her State of the State address, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem proudly rejected additional unemployment aid from the federal government – and rightfully so. With an unemployment trust…
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Congress Applauds ALEC Efforts to Address a Federal Bailout of States
Last year, ALEC released a letter signed by more than 200 state lawmakers that addressed the policy concerns with a potential federal bailout of the states. In 2021 the…
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Jonathan Williams and John Hendrickson: Iowa Tax Cuts Will Work with Lessons Learned from Kansas
ALEC Executive Vice President of Policy and Chief Economist Jonathan Williams joined John Hendrickson of the Tax Education Foundation of Iowa in an op-ed for the Des Moines Register, refuting…