Five issues to watch in the Trump Administration. TPC’s Howard Gleckman offers a reminder that “Trump was highly malleable when it came to the specifics of his tax agenda.” He outlines key questions surrounding what is likely to be a big tax cut. How big will it be? How will Congress pay for it? Who will benefit? What about business taxes? And what of the Senate?
Missouri retains the lowest tobacco tax in the country. Tuesday presented the fourth opportunity for voters to raise the 17-cent-per-cigarette-pack tax by 60 cents over four years. Voters rejected the measure, 59 percent to 41 percent.
But in the Golden State… Californians embraced a cigarette tax hike. Newly passed Proposition 56 will raise the levy on a pack of cigarettes from 87 cents to $2.87 and will tax electronic cigarettes. The average state tax on cigarettes is $1.65 per pack.
Four cities approved soda taxes. San Francisco, Oakland and nearby Albany, California, will now levy a penny-per-ounce tax on nonalcoholic drinks with caloric sweeteners. Boulder Colorado, residents voted for a tax of two cents per ounce. Still to be decided: A soda tax in Chicago’s Cook County, Illinois.
Oregon nixed a corporate income tax. Voters rejected Measure 97, which would have taxed certain C corporations’ gross annual sales above $25 million at 2.5 percent. Revenue would have been spent on education, health care and senior services.
Colorado voters rejected a tax-funded public health care program. That measure would have done an end-run around the state’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights that limits tax increases.
Congress is still in recess, but the Daily Deduction resumes it regular schedule this week to report on national, state and local elections.
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