Wisconsin not alone in using revenue increases
Budget cuts alone can’t solve today’s fiscal crises.
That’s the message IWF brought to Wisconsin’s tax debate this year. It worked here, as the Legislature and Governor enacted tax changes in addition to service cuts.
And it worked in dozens of other states, notes a new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: Tax Measures Help Balance State Budgets.
The report says: “With the recession continuing to widen the gap between shrinking revenues and residents’ increasing need for services, a growing number of states are adopting a balanced approach to their budgets that includes revenue increase as well as spending cuts. Since January 1, 30 states have raised taxes and another seven states are considering doing so.”
And it’s no wonder states are having problems balancing their budgets. This year’s drop in state tax collections is the “sharpest on record,” according to a new report from the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government: State Tax Decline in Early 2009 Was the Sharpest on Record.