The University of Minnesota Law School and The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies are co-sponsoring today A Tax Policy Conference: State Tax Incentives for Economic Development:
State governments routinely utilize tax incentive programs, credits, and exemptions to attract economic development. Last fall, in Cuno v. DaimlerChrysler, a federal appeals court declared that an Ohio incentive tax credit provision is unconstitutional as an impermissible, discriminatory interference with interstate commerce. While the Cuno parties await a decision on their request for Supreme Court review, Congress considers demands for federal legislation regulating the scope of state tax competition for economic development. Meanwhile, copycat litigation ensues challenging tax incentive laws in other states, including Minnesota’s Job Opportunity Building Zones ("JOBZ") and Biotechnology and Health Sciences Industry Zone programs, on federal and state constitutional grounds.
- Was Cuno rightly decided?
- What are the implications of Cuno for state tax policy and economic development efforts?
- Are tax incentive programs, credits, and exemptions to attract economic development good policy or a destructive "race to the bottom"?
- What, if anything, should the federal government do to regulate these state policies?
Here is the schedule of speakers and their topics:
- 9:45 am – 10:30am: Presentation on Pending Lititgation, by Kevin Thompson (Legislative Counsel, Council on State Taxation)
- 10:45 am – 12:15 pm: The Merits and Implications of Cuno v. DaimlerChrysler
- Brannon Denning (Cumberland) & Peter Enrich (Northeastern), Saving the States from Themselves: Commerce Clause Constraints on State Tax Incentives for Business
- Kirk Stark (UCLA) & Edward Zelinsky (Cardozo), Restoring Politics to the Commerce Clause: The Case for Abandoning the Dormant Commerce Clause Prohibition on Discriminatory Taxation
- Moderator: Kristin Hickman (Minnesota)
- 1:15 pm – 2:00 pm: Presentation on Pending Federal Legislation, by Walter Hellerstein (Georgia)
- 2:15 pm – 3:45 pm: The Wisdom and Efficacy of State Tax Competition
- Peter Fisher (IowaGraduate Program in Urban and Regional Planning )
- Joel Michael (Legislative Analyst, Minnesota House of Representatives Research Department)
- James Rogers (Texas A&M, Department of Political Science)
- Arthur Rolnick (Director of Research, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis)
- Moderator: Myron Orfield (Minnesota)
To listen to a live web cast of the conference, and to submit a question to a panel, see here.
