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As states reel from the impacts of a stagnant economic recovery and still painfully high unemploymet rates, many of the country's largest corporations have reaped record profits while paying little in state and federal taxes since the Great Recession began in 2008.
We'll be joined on this webinar by Matt Gardner from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, who will highlight the findings from their recent reports exposing rampant corporate tax dodging at the state and federal level, as well as an overview of the top three corporate tax reforms states can advance. We'll also be joined by the Coalition for Social Justice, who will share lessons learned from a successful campaign to enact combined reporting legislation.
Click here to register for the webinar.
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As conservative state Attorneys General prepare to take their efforts to overturn the Affordable Care Act all the way to Supreme Court arguments this spring, an outpouring of support for the health law from state legislators last week made it clear that those seeking to scuttle health reform are not the only ones speaking for the states. Over 500 state legislators representing all 50 states signed on to an Amicus Brief backing the constitutionality of the mimimum coverage provision of the law that was submitted to the Supreme Court last week, a broad show of support for the ACA coming at the beginning of both a pivotal election year and new legislative sessions which will see many lawmakers address the implementation of state exchanges provided for under the law.
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A huge victory in Montana restored the state’s longstanding ban on corporate political spending on behalf of state political candidates and parties, overturning a lower court’s ruling and flying in the face of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision that grants corporations the same free speech rights as individuals. By upholding the constitutionality of the Corrupt Practices Act – a voter initiative that bans corporate contributions to state candidates and political parties that dates back to 1912 – the Montana Supreme Court became the first state court in the country to reject Citizens United.
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In a surprising move, the Obama administration ensured that even more of the debate around health insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will take place in state capitols instead of Washington D.C. in the coming years. The role of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in determining the shape of state health insurance exchanges changed on December 16th with the release of a bulletin announcing proposed policies that would give states rather than the federal government the authority in choosing a template for the essential health benefits package offered by the exchanges.
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Quote of the Week
"Today, I can think of no better statement to make in memory of Dr. King than to expand and assure access to voting rights, given everything he stood and worked so hard for. While some states are suppressing voter turnout, we are moving in the opposite direction and working to improve access to elections and align our electoral system with 21st century technology."
— Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy, proposing new legislation this week that would preserve voting rights and expand access to voter registration.
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In this week’s Research Roundup: In this week’s Research Roundup: Recent reports from NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Political Economy Research Institute, Center for Economic and Policy Research, US Action Education Fund, Center for Rural Strategies, Pew Center on the States, Good Jobs First, Commonwealth Fund, Economic Opportunity Institute, and more.
Read the full Roundup here.
Please email us leads on good research at research@progressivestates.org
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The Stateside Dispatch is edited by:
Charles Monaco, Director of Communications and New Media
Contributors to the Dispatch include:
Devin Boerm, Health Policy Specialist
Cristina Francisco-McGuire, Policy Specialist
Tim Judson, Senior Policy Specialist - Workers' Rights
Suman Raghunathan, Director of Policy and Strategic Partnerships
Mike Maiorini, Online Technology Manager
Ben Secord, Senior Outreach and Program Coordinator
Please send us an email at dispatch@progressivestates.org if you have feedback, tips, suggestions, criticisms,or nominations for any of our sidebar features.
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| Progressive States Network works to build a network of progressive legislators, grassroots advocates, progressive policy institutions, unions and community groups to move progressive policy and transform the political debate across the fifty states. |
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