Republican Governors Start Learning to Like Tax Hikes
States that came under Republican control with the Tea Party’s rise have reached the limits of austerity.
Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), speaks at the Bloomberg Washington Summit in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, May 1, 2012.
Photographer: Joshua Roberts/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Republican leaders who control U.S. states are confronting the consequences of no-new-tax pledges as they face shortfalls and try to preserve education and infrastructure.
Nevada, Kansas and Alabama have enacted or are debating increases in taxes on sales, tobacco, corporate income and other items, and six others have passed higher fuel levies despite a small-government dogma. In Louisiana, Republican lawmakers and Governor Bobby Jindal have been engaged in a near-theological debate about what constitutes a tax increase as they seek to close a $1.6 billion budget gap.