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Taxation-State and Local

Articles by Maurer Faculty

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COVID-19

Publication Year

Articles 1 - 3 of 3

Full-Text Articles in Law

Weathering State And Local Budget Storms: Fiscal Federalism With An Uncooperative Congress, David Gamage, Darien Shanske, Gladriel Shobe, Adam Thimmesch Jan 2022

Weathering State And Local Budget Storms: Fiscal Federalism With An Uncooperative Congress, David Gamage, Darien Shanske, Gladriel Shobe, Adam Thimmesch

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Throughout most of 2020, state and local governments faced severe budget crises as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Increased demand for state welfare services and rising state expenses related to controlling the spread of COVID-19 stretched state and local budgets to their breaking points. At the same time, layoffs, business closures, and social distancing measures reduced states’ primary sources of tax revenues. The traditional practice of American fiscal federalism is for the federal government to step in to provide aid during a national emergency of this magnitude, because state and local governments lack the federal government’s monetary and fiscal …


How States Should Now Consider Expanding Sales Taxes To Services, Part 2, Grace Stephenson Nielsen, Gladriel Shobe, Darien Shanske, David Gamage Jan 2021

How States Should Now Consider Expanding Sales Taxes To Services, Part 2, Grace Stephenson Nielsen, Gladriel Shobe, Darien Shanske, David Gamage

Articles by Maurer Faculty

As we explained in our prior essay, state governments are experiencing severe revenue needs because of COVID-19, and expanding state sales tax bases to include services is a promising option for state governments to manage their budget shortfalls. In this, the second essay in this series — a contribution to Project SAFE: State Action in Fiscal Emergencies — we explain some of the implementation details and options for how states might go about expanding their sales tax bases to include services. In particular, we argue that there are some incremental steps that seem to be technically and politically feasible as …


Why States Should Now Consider Expanding Sales Taxes To Services, Part 1, Gladriel Shobe, Grace Stephenson Nielsen, Darien Shanske, David Gamage Dec 2020

Why States Should Now Consider Expanding Sales Taxes To Services, Part 1, Gladriel Shobe, Grace Stephenson Nielsen, Darien Shanske, David Gamage

Articles by Maurer Faculty

States are facing a severe budget crisis as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. And with the federal government unlikely to pass a relief bill to address those state budget issues,1 states will need to play a significant role in making up revenue shortfalls.

This is the first in a three-part series, which is a contribution to Project SAFE: State Action in Fiscal Emergencies. This essay will lay out the general case for why states should consider expanding their sales tax bases to more services as a response to the COVID-19 crisis. The follow-ups will discuss further mechanics and details …