Archives: State Budgets / Articles
Archives: State Budgets / Articles (page 5)
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VIDEO: A Look Back at Rich States, Poor States Launch in Salt Lake City
On April 13, we launched the 16th edition of Rich States, Poor States: ALEC-Laffer State Economic Competitiveness Index from Salt Lake City, celebrating Utah’s number one economic…
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State Fiscal New Year and Latest State Tax Cut Efforts: Jonathan Williams on American Radio Journal
ALEC Executive Vice President of Policy and Chief Economist Jonathan Williams highlights the wave of tax relief some states are providing taxpayers in his latest…
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The Latest Threat to the Colorado Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights
An upcoming ballot measure in Colorado would allow massive expansion in government spending and weaken the Colorado Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR), the nation’s strongest taxpayer protection. At the tail…
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Report Ranks New York Lowest in Nation for Economic Outlook: Rich States, Poor States in The Observer
The Observer highlights New York’s dreadful economic outlook based on the findings in The 16th edition of Rich States, Poor States: ALEC-Laffer State Economic Competitiveness Index. New…
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Are States Making Smart Economic Decisions? Jonathan Williams on The Voice of Reason with Andy Hooser
Jonathan Williams, ALEC Executive Vice President of Policy and Chief Economist, spoke with Andy Hooser on The Voice of Reason about the economic rankings of states, which…
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CalPERS and CalSTRS Know Fossil Fuel Divestment is a Recipe for Disaster
In the Golden State, the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) and the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) are waking up to the fact that divestment hurts…
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ALEC’s Flagship Guide to Economic Growth: Rich States, Poor States
For nearly 16 years, Rich States, Poor States: ALEC-Laffer State Economic Competitiveness Index has been a guiding light for legislators to help improve their state’s Economic Outlook. Chronicling how…
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Sunshine Week Spotlight: Transparency at the Expense of Greater Federal Control?
In December 2022, the President signed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 (NDAA) into law. Buried deep within the nearly 4000-page bill is a mandate that…
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Medicaid Expansion Weighs Heavily on State Budgets
It has been almost ten years since Medicaid expansion was first enacted, and 39 states have passed and/or enacted their Medicaid programs under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Most recently,…
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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…