Last week, New Jersey’s legislature took the first step towards making recreational marijuana legal when Senator and Majority Whip Nicholas P. Scutari (D) and Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney (D) introduced Senate Bill 21 (S21), New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance, and Marketplace Modernization Act. If enacted, S21 would legalize and tax recreational marijuana in […]
In Tuesday’s election, voters in two states—California and Colorado—were tasked with deciding whether to amend their states’ constitution to change how the property tax burden is distributed. In many ways, the ballot measures were mirror images of each other, but the outcomes were similar. California Proposition 15 sought to shift more of the property tax […]
Illinois voters rejected a high graduated rate income tax while Arizonans embraced a large income tax rate increase for high earners, among the many attention-grabbing results from Tuesday’s elections—most of which, admittedly, weren’t about taxes. Coloradans, meanwhile, ratified an income tax cut in a year that many expected voters to instead be weighing in on […]
Tuesday, voters in four states, Arizona, Montana, New Jersey, and South Dakota, approved ballot measures legalizing recreational marijuana. The vote was only close in one state, South Dakota. That raises the total to 15 states plus the District of Columbia that have legalized recreational marijuana one way or another. Recreational marijuana has been a hot […]
Next month, Arizona voters will decide whether to create a new fifth income tax bracket that would raise the top rate from 4.5 percent to 8 percent. Proposition 208 would create an additional 3.5 percent tax on income above $250,000 ($500,000 for joint filers) to generate additional revenue for education. The tax would be levied […]
Oregon voters will weigh in on taxation of tobacco and nicotine products next month. If voters pass Measure 108, the Tobacco and E-Cigarette Tax Increase for Health Programs Measure, it would increase taxes on cigarettes and cigars and introduce a new tax on vapor products beginning January 2021. The measure was passed by the Oregon […]
Featured Ballot Measures Arizona Proposition 207 Arizona Proposition 207 would legalize recreational marijuana and tax retail sales at 16 percent of retail price. Arizona forecasts roughly $166 million in excise tax revenue when the market has matured, and this revenue would be allocated to community colleges, police departments, fire departments, transportation funding, and a new Justice […]
This Election Day, Colorado voters will weigh in on Proposition 116, the Decrease Income Tax Rate from 4.63% to 4.55% Initiative. It would permanently reduce the state’s flat income tax rate from 4.63 to 4.55 percent and be retroactive to January 1, 2020, meaning taxpayers would benefit from the relief starting this year. It is […]
One of the many policy questions Colorado voters will be tasked with deciding this November is whether to amend the state constitution to repeal the Gallagher Amendment, a provision within the Colorado constitution that, since 1982, has limited residential property to 45 percent of the statewide property tax base. Repealing the Gallagher Amendment would cause […]
Key Findings: California has one of the nation’s least business-friendly tax environments, ranking 48th on the Tax Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index, which measures tax structure. However, the state’s property tax code is a relative bright spot, with the state ranking 14th on that component of the Index. If approved by California voters on […]