Proposition 3 Will Maintain Texas’ Extreme Wealth Inequality
- October 20, 2023
- Every Texan
- Samuel Cervantes
Democracy
Publications
When lawmakers prioritize democratic processes, all Oklahomans benefit
- October 6, 2023
- Oklahoma Policy Institute
- Cole Allen
2022 Candidate Briefing Book
- June 21, 2022
- Connecticut Voices for Children
- Patrick R. O'Brien, Ph.D.; Lauren Ruth, Ph.D.; Samaila Adelaiye, Ph.D.; Lin Kabachia, M.P.P.; Sana Shah, M.S.
Connecticut Voices for Children released a new report, “The 2022 Candidate Briefing Book.” Designed to provide a snapshot of helpful research and data for Connecticut residents and candidates running for political office this election cycle, this document lays the foundation for what we’re calling the Connecticut Families Plan, which we first mentioned in January of 2022. Due to the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on our health and economy these past two-plus years, this “Book” should be viewed in tandem with our Issue Briefing Book 2020-2022, which was published in July of 2020.
Hawai‘i Budget Primer: An Overview of How Hawai‘i Invests in Our Future and Our People
- July 30, 2018
- Hawaiʻi Appleseed
- Hawai‘i Budget & Policy Center
Hawai‘i has a new resource to help make better budget and tax policy decisions, coming online at a critical time in light of recent and upcoming events in Washington.
The Hawai‘i Budget Primer serves as a starting point for a new effort to pull together data and information relating to the budget so policy makers, community leaders, and interested citizens can make better informed budget and policy decisions.
Takeaways from the Budget Primer include the following:
- Hawai‘i is last in the nation in terms of percentage of our state budget that comes from federal sources, suggesting that Hawai‘i may have an opportunity to attract more federal dollars to support state programs.
- State government spending accounts for 20 percent of the gross state product (GSP). In combination with county budgets, 26 percent of the GSP comes from Hawai‘i-based government.
- Hawai‘i residents with the lowest incomes pay almost twice as much of their earnings to state taxes than people with the highest incomes.
- The state’s biggest source of tax revenue is the general excise tax. The GET appears to be deceptively modest (4 to 4.5 percent) if seen as a sales tax but, because it’s an excise tax applied to virtually every transaction, the multiplied effect would equal a sales tax of 10 to 11 percent.
- Hawai‘i’s property taxes, which are collected at the county level only, are at the lowest rates in the country.