Do states have a case against the federal government’s SALT deduction cap? TPC’s Howard Gleckman asked whether the Tax Cut and Jobs Act’s SALT deduction limit is unconstitutional as four blue states claim. He finds the states’ legal case is a reach, especially since Congress has been tinkering with the SALT deduction since the 1940s. Gleckman concludes that “states may or may not have a legitimate complaint against the latest limits on the SALT deduction. But the place for them to resolve it is Congress, not the courts.”
Philadelphia successfully defended its soda tax case in state court. Merchants and the beverage industry had challenged the city’s tax on sugary drinks, arguing that the levy duplicated the city’s retail sales tax on soda. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that the city’s 1.5-cent-per-ounce tax affects distributors, not retailers, and is therefore permitted.
Why are Maine’s lawmakers awaiting details about Governor LaPage’s hospital tax increase? Maine’s Supreme Court will hear arguments in a suit challenging the governor’s refusal to expand Medicaid coverage to tens to thousands of additional adults even though voters approved the Medicaid expansion in November. LePage argues that his administration cannot be required to expand coverage because the state legislature hasn’t appropriated necessary funds. He proposed raising hospital taxes to cover the Medicaid expansion three weeks ago, but still has not provided the legislature necessary details for the bill’s consideration.
In Tacoma, Washington’s Pierce County: A “head tax credit?” The county responded to Seattle’s now-repealed “head tax” on large employers with a promise to pay businesses who create higher paying jobs in Pierce County. Some employers that create five or more new permanent jobs that pay at least $52,197 a year will receive a one-time credit of $275 per job. That figure roughly matches what Seattle’s head tax would have been before the city council repealed it. Pierce County's credit will run from 2019 through 2025.
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