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Jun 19 2009, 3:23 pm by Derek Thompson

2009 State Tax Tsunami Already Hitting 23 States

With state budgets feeling the pinch and the federal government refusing to bailout even California, the national mascot of state deficits, 23 states have raised taxes in 2009, with 13 more states considering increases. There's every reason to think that eventually almost all states will raise income, sales or business taxes, considering that in the far milder recession of the early 1990s, 44 states raised taxes by more than one percent. Where are taxes rising this time?

Check out the map below to find out. Some takeaways: Every state west of Colorado has passed or proposed a tax increase. State governments are often passing the tax increases over painful spending cuts. California is raising income taxes by .25 percent on top of almost $15 billion in service cuts. Sales taxes are also getting creative, from raising the price of beer and wine (New York) to eliminating exemptions for hybrid vehicles (Washington) to extending the sales tax to music downloads and periodical subscriptions (Wisconsin). For more from the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities report, go here.

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Comments (3)

rfhs

If North Carolina does it right, it will raise a billion in new revenue, but actually *lower* rates through various base broadening measures.. The anti-California, I think..

Black Saint

California the Golden state, American future, is fast becoming the poster child for an bankrupt third world State!

An unholy alliance of Socialist Democrat politicians, Unions, and Illegal Aliens supporters are feasting at the trough of tax payers paid benefits while taxing & regulating business and the tax paying public into poverty.

The pandering of Left Wing Democrat Politicians to their constituency of Illegal Aliens, open border supporters, and unions are driving business and citizens to other states & countries, while leaving the parasites & welfare leeches in an increasing bankrupt, crime ridden, dysfunctional state!

For years California has ignored economics 101 and imported poverty, Criminals and uneducated Peons from Mexico, which increased Medical, Welfare, Crime, Prison, etc. & adding a estimated 16 billion per year to Calif. State expense to provide for the invading horde of Illegal Aliens while exporting business and educated working tax payers.

Like all Socialist & Marxist States the results have been a astronomical increase in social welfare, schooling, prison cost etc. and a lowing of Living standards, Education standards, Tax receipts & finally Bankruptcy.

Failure to abide by our Constitution against invasion & enforce our Immigration laws and constraints on wages and benefits for public employees will result in turning the Golden State into MexiCalif and the end of the California dream!

The policies of Obama and Wash. DC Democrats are intent on following Calif. policies and are resulting in the same creeping socialist process across American.

Amnesty & Citizenship as a reward for their invasion of the USA, will result in the rest of the USA turned into a Spanish speaking third world cesspool, modeled on Mexico and follow California into a polluted, over populated, Spanish speaking third world Nation of Crime, Corruption, Poverty, Cruelly & Misery!

This will result in a population depending on Welfare and the Democrat party, thus assuring the lock on power for the Socialist Democrat party of the United States of Mexico!

Karen

I think the comments of Black Saint are a bit harsh on the illegal aliens, in that they also support the majority of our service sector in California (unfortunate but true). It is already so expensive to live here that people find it hard to live in CA on anything below $60or 70K so the illegals end up in our lower level jobs.

That said, I agree that CA (I do live here)has yet to learn economics 101. We live in a gorgeous, abundant state that is full of resources, yet we are already bankrupt! It has got to end somewhere, but not just an issue of our states, our federal government doesn't begin to budget either.

Karen