More than ever, the Tax Policy Center (TPC) became the source in 2006 for clarifying tax legislation and alternative policy options. We were cited in over 450 major media articles, including almost 90 citations in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post.

Photo: Eusevia Valdez

For example, distribution and revenue tables posted on our web site were cited in major news outlets every day during debates on tax reconciliation in May. TPC analyses—and experts—were also cited regularly in the spring and summer of 2006 as Congress considered estate tax reform options.

As we continued to upgrade our detailed model of the U.S. tax system, TPC was better able to analyze and distribute information on tax policy trends and intricacies.

We continued to warn policymakers on the individual alternative minimum tax (AMT). In December, our bullet-point report detailed the explosive growth of the AMT, the reasons behind that growth, who the AMT is likely to ensnare in the future, and what the cost of preventing the rapid expansion of the AMT would be.

TPC convened timely public policy conferences in 2006 to expand discussion on topics of the day. At a First Tuesday forum in May, for instance, experts examined the lack of health care coverage among Americans. Debate centered on the president's proposed tax incentives tied to high-deductible health insurance plans. In June, a similar forum explored child care benefits available through both tax and direct expenditure programs.

On state and local tax policy, we created new information resources for policymakers and the public. One new resource is a query system that allows users to access and customize searches of a 50-state database of government revenues and expenditures.  A visitor, for example, can compare the taxes used across states.

TPC experts testified five times before the U.S. Congress in 2006, outlining a variety of fiscal policy options.

TPC produced 53 discussion papers, research reports, and policy briefs in 2006. For instance, a timely policy brief released in December described two primary wage-support policies that help low-income families—the minimum wage and targeted tax credits—and explained why expanded tax credits cannot substitute for an increase in the minimum wage. Other papers addressed such disparate topics as the distribution of tax cuts and innovative options for funding California's infrastructure.

Center Staff
Center Publications