December 2006 Budget & Tax News

The December 2006 issue of Budget & Tax News highlights in several articles the relationship between taxes, tax cuts, and economic growth. On page 1:

• In its fall special session, the Utah Legislature passed a bill that cuts individual income taxes by $78 million per year and offers a flat tax option.

• The state of Illinois has pulled a nonprofit hospital's tax-exempt status in a decision that is seen by some as a threat to the tax exemptions of all nonprofit organizations in the state.

• The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled lawmakers violated the state constitution when they passed midterm pay raises in 2005.

• The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to weigh the constitutionality of Washington state's paycheck protection law.

Also in this issue: spending reforms and accountability in Texas, the Bush tax cuts, state/local taxes top $1 trillion, borrowing propositions on the California ballot, Internet taxes, the economic performance of low-tax states, new pension accounting rules, tax increment financing, land-value taxation, unions, and more.