ReveNews: Post-Election, Pre-Session; We’re With You

November 22, 2024

In this edition of ReveNews, we tally up the electoral wins for revenue at the state level and give you the run down (and links to) several new support materials from the State Revenue Alliance.  

IN THE STATES….

Electoral roundup on revenue.

When state legislatures reconvene in early 2025, SRA partners will be at the forefront of the fight for tax justice and driving the effort to create a fair and resilient economy that benefits everyone. And elected leaders will know that the public is on our side because of the results at the ballot and through the extensive research and educational efforts of SRA and our state and national partners. Here’s the story details that reflect the momentum you’ve built. 

• Our c4 arm, the Alliance Action Fund, worked alongside partners in 7 states to conduct direct voter contacts and candidate trainings, produce outreach materials, engage in digital and media communications, and support with regrants. 

• Out of nearly 50 state policymakers who have been vocal tax champions, all but three won election or reelection. This includes competitive races in several states.

  • All (38) of the state legislators up for election in the Tax Justice Initiative cohort, which SRA and SiX support, won their elections.

• Voters supported pro-revenue positions in most states that had meaningful tax policy questions on the statewide ballot in 2024 including:  

  • Washington State: Measure 2019, which would have repealed the state’s successful capital gains tax.

  • North Dakota: Measure 4, which would have led to the elimination of property taxes.

  • South Dakota: Measure 28, which would have repealed the grocery tax, but also significantly decreased revenue and threatened the state's ability to raise revenue through other means.

  • Voters in Illinois approved a non-binding advisory to amend the Illinois Constitution to create a three percent tax on people making more than $1 million.

  • In Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah, voters approved measures to increase funding for education and other public services.

Disclaimer: there were a few expansions to existing property tax exemptions that voters supported too, but still – big picture: 2024 is probably the best cycle for revenue ballots in a long time. We’ll have more to say after we dig into past year’s results.

ON THE NATIONAL SCENE…

'Tis the season for giving thanks and revenue policy help from SRA.

Just yesterday we held the November SRA general meeting. Here’s the recording and below are the support materials that were mentioned.

• SRA's updated District Dashboard and lookup tool where you can find modeled support estimates by state, congressional district and state legislative district data on voter support for various tax measures and values.

• Here’s the 2024 Legislative Session Overview with the state tax highlights from around the country.

• If you're wondering if SRA “can help me with that,” here’s an updated list of our supports and services just in time for the holidays!

• SRA is starting to build out a new series of short explainers on major tax policy wins around the country. We’re calling them FastPolicy papers. Light on policy details, they are designed for when you need to share the basics about, say, the Massachusetts Fair Share Amendment or the New Jersey Corporate Transit Fee. (These are the first we created, email jonathan@staterevenuealliance.org with ideas for the next batch.)

• If your organization is thinking about how to respond to the federal tax debate, ala Trump Tax Plan v2, we are right there with you. May we suggest a letter to Congress? Yes, seriously. We have a draft letter that you can make your own and add as many state partners as you can to the effort. Lean on us for media and digital support and strategy as we unite before the new face of the 119th Congress. 

DID YOU KNOW?

SRA is hiring! Know someone who would be a great addition to our team? Share this Campaigns Manager job description with them.

You can get daily or weekly revenue news from around the country. SRA offers a daily or weekly news digest for anyone who likes to have all the revenue news in one email! You can choose the digest and sign up here. 

Check it out: On November 13, Groundwork Collaborative convened an afternoon of federal tax talk – post-election style – as part of their EconCon Presents series. It was an important conversation for state tax advocates too, so we are happy to share the full event recording online.