Tax & Budget

Progressive States Network's Tax and Budget program focuses on goals such as strengthening economic development, ensuring accountability for government subsidies, reforming contracting processes, restricting privatization to protect the public interest and taxpayer dollars, advocating for fair and progressive tax systems, and promoting economic growth strategies.

Key Policies:

• Corporate Accountability: In order to protect taxpayers, create good jobs, promote sound fiscal practices, find spending inefficiencies, and encourage a more focused budget process, states must adopt stronger transparency and accountability mechanisms.
• Progressive Tax Reform: Although the recession may have subsided at the national level, 2011 still finds states reeling from historic budget shortfalls, high unemployment, and significant revenue declines, and will continue to face fiscal challenges in the upcoming year. These dire circumstances merit progressive tax and budget policy as a means to provide essential services, make critical investments in public structures and long-term growth areas, support working and middle-class families who have been disproportionately hit by the impact of the downturn, alleviate the disturbing regressivity of state tax structures, and ensure that all taxpayers are contributing their fair share.
• Development Banks: Several legislative and advocate leaders are exploring the idea of state development banks modeled after the Bank of North Dakota. State banks team up with local banks, credit unions and community development financial institutions to retain public money locally to: create new jobs and spur broader economic growth, increase state revenues; strengthen local banks; and lower debt costs for state and local government.