Connecticut workers will ring in the New Year with a new tax. Starting on Jan.1, about 1.7 million workers in the state will pay a 0.5 percent tax on every paycheck to support the Connecticut Paid Leave Authority Trust Fund. But workers won’t be able to access the money for a year. Governor Ned Lamont signed the tax into law last year but many seem to have forgotten about it. Said one Connecticut worker, ““I didn’t know this. I don’t think a lot of people know this. So a lot of people are going to be shocked.”
No unemployment tax increase in South Carolina. Governor Henry McMaster says state’s unemployment insurance tax will stay the same or decline in 2021. Thanks to an infusion of $1.9 billion in federal coronavirus relief funding, South Carolina deposited $920 million into its unemployment trust fund.
Will the US Supreme Court hear a challenge to Colorado’s marijuana law? Standing Akimbo, a Denver medical marijuana dispensary, has petitioned the high court to decide whether Colorado’s laws on legalized marijuana trump federal law, and whether the Fourth Amendment shields cannabis companies’ financial information from tax investigators. The petitioner’s attorney, James Thorburn, has litigated several cases that challenge IRS authority to obtain financial information from cannabis businesses in Colorado.
Is the Senate about to confirm Judy Shelton to the Fed? Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is teeing up a vote for Trump’s controversial nominee. Shelton has been a strong advocate of returning the US to the gold standard and opposed deposit insurance.
Still going nowhere, fast. While some congressional aides hold out hopes for a lame-duck agreement on a COVID-19 relief bill, party leaders are sticking to their positions, at least publicly. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer say that the House-passed $3.4 trillion HEROES Act should be the “starting point” for negotiations. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says unsurprisingly, “That's not a place I think we're willing to go.” Pelosi and Schumer counter that President-elect Joe Biden’s win last week creates a mandate to go that place, with haste. The White House remains silent.
For the latest tax news, subscribe to the Tax Policy Center’s Daily Deduction. Sign up here to have it delivered to your inbox weekdays at 8:00 am (Mondays only when Congress is in recess). We welcome tips on new research or other news. Email Renu Zaretsky at [email protected].