Undocumented Oregonians pay taxes. The millions in taxes they pay to help fund schools and other public services that strengthen Oregon’s economy.
Oregon would collect even more tax revenue under comprehensive immigration reform that would open a path to citizenship for undocumented workers. Under such a scenario, these immigrant Oregonians and aspiring citizens would contribute so much more in state and local taxes that their tax payments as a share of their income would exceed the share paid by Oregon’s wealthiest 1 percent.
Far from providing relief for working families, recent proposals to eliminate school property taxes in Pennsylvania would increase taxes on the middle class while sabotaging the chance to adequately fund Pennsylvania schools for middle- and low-income families.
This report provides the first estimates of the impact of property tax elimination proposals on families in Pennsylvania. Echoing recent debates about U.S. health care policy, our findings demonstrate that, in the case of proposed property tax elimination in Pennsylvania, the devil is in the details.
Louisiana is $440 million short of the revenue needed to fund state government at current levels in next year’s budget. The problem gets much worse in the 2018-19 fiscal year, when more than $1.3 billion in temporary taxes are due to expire – creating a “fiscal cliff” that would require drastic cuts to state services if left unaddressed.
To plug these holes, Gov. John Bel Edwards has proposed a package of tax reforms that would overhaul the state sales tax, the personal income tax, and the taxes that corporations pay. If all elements of the plan are approved, it would raise enough revenue to plug the coming fiscal year’s $440 million shortfall and avoid the 2018-19 fiscal cliff. It would generate about $411 million per year in new, recurring revenue and would provide a net tax cut to 95 percent of Louisiana families. The largest effective tax cut would go to the middle 20 percent of taxpayers – households earning between $36,000 and $56,000 per year.
The plan would also make Louisiana’s tax structure more fair. But this fairness is tied to the changes proposed for the personal income tax, which have to pass both the Legislature and a vote of the people.
As the Trump Administration talks about a program of mass deportation – or, who knows, perhaps not? – the question of what contribution undocumented immigrants make to the New York economy is more important than ever. This new report finds that unauthorized immigrants are responsible for $40 billion, or three percent, of New York’s economic output, and make up five percent of the labor force. They also pay taxes—a total of $1.1 billion in state and local taxes in New York.
The report also has regional profiles of unauthorized immigrants in New York City, Long Island, the Hudson Valley, and Northern and Western New York.