It isn’t the highest-profile outcome of the recent elections, but North Dakotans overwhelmingly rejected Measure 2, which would have cut their state personal income tax by 50% and cut the corporate income tax by 15%, with an estimated two-year cost of $420 million. The Bismarck Tribune reports that about 70% of North Dakotans voted against the measure.
In rejecting this measure, North Dakotans recognized that the oil boom that fueled their current budget surpluses was not going to last forever. They have retained the flexibility to enact better targeted changes to their tax laws and the ability to invest in the strong workforce and quality infrastructure that can build a healthy state economy into the future.
- Nan Madden
Massachusetts also defeated a proposition that would have eliminated their state income tax, and we here in Minnesota voted to increase our state sales tax. These examples make me wonder if attitudes towards taxes are changing (or if they had been misconstrued or perhaps misunderstood in recent years).