Starving the Statehouse: The Hidden Tax Policies Behind States’ Long-Run Fiscal Crises

American states have underinvested in infrastructure, education, and public welfare for decades. While the growing costs of certain state programs have accounted for part of the problem, stagnant and more volatile tax levies have also contributed to the lack of funds for public services. Surprisingly, however, scholars have devoted little attention to the latter problem. This Note begins to fill that void by proposing a new research agenda.

Note,

* SFALP Fellow and Lecturer in Law, Yale Law School. I thank Anne Alstott for encouraging me to pursue this project and providing invaluable feedback on early drafts. I am also incredibly grateful to the editors of the Yale Law & Policy Review for their thoughtful comments and tireless efforts to prepare this piece for publication. The views expressed in this Note are mine and mine alone; they do not represent or reflect the views of any other person, entity, or organization.