From:  Susan Kniep,  President
The Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations, Inc.
Website:  http://ctact.org/
email:  fctopresident@ctact.org

860-524-6501

October 12, 2005

 

 

ATTEND THE INFORMATIONAL FORUM ON

 

 

STATE AND LOCAL TAX POLICY

 

 

 

Date:  Wednesday October 26, 2005

Time:  1:00 pm to 5:00 pm

Location:  Legislative Office Building  Room 2C, Hartford, CT

Sponsored by: Legislative Program Review and Investigations Committee

as part of its current study of Connecticut's tax system.

Description of Forum: A panel of invited national and state experts will discuss guiding principles for revenue systems, trends in state and local tax policies, and actual tax reform experiences in other selected states, and participate in a moderated question and answer session.  Representative Sharkey and Senator Cook anticipate the forum will provide useful information and new perspectives to legislators and others interested in Connecticut’s state and local tax system.

For further information:   Contact the program review committee staff office at (860) 240-0300 if you have any questions. 

Draft Agenda:  Follows

 

DRAFT PROGRAM AGENDA

Connecticut Legislative Program Review & Investigations Committee

State and Local Tax Policy Forum

 

 

 

PRESENTERS:

·         Moderator: NCSL staff/Ron Snell (confirmed) -- Highlight tax system principles/criteria and moderate Q&A (also could discuss Colorado TABOR experience)

 

• National Expert: Michael Bell, Research  Professor in Public Policy, Center for State and Local Fiscal Policy Research, George Washington University (tentative)  – Discuss national trends in state tax systems and policies (local property tax relief, TELs, economic development and tax credits, etc.); future considerations for state and local taxes

 

• State Experiences: Lessons learned from tax reforms implemented in certain states, i.e., overview of reform undertaken, the intended purpose compared to actual outcomes (positive/negative, intended/unintended), and any recommendations for other states with similar reform goals (what should be done differently and what could be done the same)

 

Case Study States:

1)      California: Kim Rueben, Sr. Adjunct Fellow, Public Policy Institute of California and Sr. Research Assoc. Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center (confirmed) -- Property tax reform efforts, the impact of Proposition 13; (also could discuss state tax reform generally, impact on states of federal tax reforms)

2)      New Jersey: Ranjana Madhusudhan, Sr. Economist, NJ Dept. of the Treasury, (confirmed) -- Corporate tax reforms; recent personal income and sales tax changes

3)      Michigan: Robert Cline, Ernst & Young (confirmed)  – Experience with “VAT” and shifting state/local education funding responsibility (also may discuss latest tax reform project in Ohio)

4)      Massachusetts/New Hampshire: Daphne Kenyon, public finance consultant/Lincoln Institute Senior Fellow (confirmed)  – Property tax reform in Massachusetts, impact of Proposition 2½; New Hampshire school finance issues 

5)      Maine: Darcy Rollins, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston (confirmed) – Tax reform issues in Maine and potential impact of changes under consideration

 

FORMAT:

• Introduction – Explain format and introduce speakers
• Principles Overview (10 minutes)
• Trends/Future Overview (15 minutes)
• State Experiences/“Case Studies” (15-20 minutes each)
• Question and Answer Period (1+ hour)