|
|
Emerging State Initiatives Monday, April 6,
1998 You are invited to a briefing on an approach to state tax reform that is increasingly attracting the attention of policymakers, media, and diverse constituencies. This approach integrates fiscal, energy, and environmental policy goals in a way that should merit attention from anyone interested in the national tax reform debate, as well as those interested in cost-effective, market-based approaches to furthering environmental and sustainable development objectives. In recent years, states have utilized environmental taxes, fees and incentive measures for various purposes, often dedicating tax and fee revenues to fund activities with specific environmental objectives. However, recent tax proposals in the Northeast, the Midwest and the Pacific Northwest are different in that they are part of tax reform plans designed to improve the overall tax system as well as achieve environmental objectives. They would reduce or eliminate certain existing state taxes and replace lost general revenues through taxes on environmentally damaging activities. These proposals have much in common with tax reform plans already implemented in several European countries that use energy, pollution and other environmental taxes to reduce the tax burden on work, investment and enterprise, to yield both economic and environmental benefits. In Minnesota, tax reform proposals introduced in both the House and Senate would substantially reduce property taxes and impose new energy taxes to replace the lost revenues. An ongoing education and outreach campaign has attracted media attention and is seeking support for the proposals from business, labor, and other key constituencies in the state. Various analyses indicate that the proposals would yield increased employment and other economic benefits, as well as improve efficiency and reduce fossil fuel use in the state. In Vermont, state regulators and legislators are showing increased interest in the concept of shifting some of the state tax burden onto fossil fuels. For example, the Vermont Department of Public Service's Comprehensive Energy Plan/Greenhouse Gas Action Plan suggests developing an energy tax system to begin internalizing the social and environmental costs associated with fossil fuel use. A state legislative committee charged with examining the state's long-term environmental needs recommended enacting a modest carbon-based tax on energy; a bill introduced this session in the Vermont House proposes a substantial $100 per ton carbon tax. Tax Shift, a report being released this week by Northwest Environment Watch, describes how changing the tax laws can help reconcile economic and environmental goals in the Pacific Northwest states and British Columbia. The report proposes replacing many of the taxes currently burdening the region's economy with taxes designed to help control pollution, traffic congestion, sprawl and other environmental degradation. Additionally, a recent Tellus Institute study concluded that shifting New York State taxes away from individual and business income and assets and towards fossil fuel use, through enactment of a carbon tax, could yield positive economic and environmental impacts. The study, commissioned by the Pace University Center for Environmental Legal Studies, found that such "ecological tax reform" would likely foster technological progress and market development, improve local, state and regional public health and environmental quality in a cost-effective way, help achieve national and state climate policy goals, and support a forward-looking state economic development policy. Speakers at the briefing will include:
The briefing is free and open to the public and no reservations are required. For more information, please contact EESI at (202) 662-1886. |