53rd Annual Spring Symposium Program In Association with the American Tax Policy Institute (ATPI)

THE BUILDING STORM: TAX, FISCAL & SOCIAL POLICY

Program Chairs: Elaine Maag, Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, Anne Moore, United States Department of the Treasury

Thursday, May 11, 2023

8:00 – 8:15 AM 

WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION

Elaine Maag, Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, Anne Moore, United States Department of the Treasury

8:15 – 9:45 AM 

SOCIAL POLICY FOR VERY LOW-INCOME PEOPLE: COVID-19 AND BEYOND 

Moderator: Elaine Maag, Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center
Discussants: Dayanand S. Manoli, Georgetown University

New Child Tax Credit that will Reduce Poverty and have Bipartisan Appeal
Jacob Bastian, Rutgers University

The Child Tax Credit and Income Inequality
Bradley Hardy, Georgetown University

Earnings Business Cycles: The COVID Recession, Recovery, and Policy Response
David Splinter, Joint Committee on Taxation

9:45 – 10:00 AM 

BREAK

10:00 – 11:30 AM 

GLOBAL CORPORATE TAX REFORM: THE OECD TAX PROGRAM AND THE NEW U.S. CORPORATE MINIMUM TAX (Panel Discussion

Moderator: Kimberly Clausing, University of California, Los Angeles
Panelists:
Jennifer Blouin, University of Pennsylvania
Pat Brown, PwC
Lilian Faulhaber, Georgetown University

 

Panel Description
Nearly 140 countries have agreed in principal to the OECD’s Pillar I (which shifts some taxing authority to market jurisdictions) and Pillar II (which would implement a 15% minimum tax). Pillar II is on track to be implemented in 2024.  The panel will discuss this OECD program and the new U.S. corporate minimum enacted via the Inflation Reduction Act.

11:30 – 11:40 AM

BREAK

11:40- 1:10PM

KEYNOTE LUNCHEON AND PRESENTATION OF THE DAVIE-DAVIS AWARD FOR PUBLIC SERVICE

Keynote Presentation: Three Tax Policy Ideas to Strengthen Retirement Security
Alicia Munnell, Boston College

Presentation of the Davie-Davis Award for Public Service to Gerald Auten, U.S. Department of the Treasury

1:10 – 1:20 PM

BREAK

1:20 – 2:35 PM

SEPARATION OF POWERS: WHAT DO RECENT COURT CASES MEAN FOR THE IRS’ EXERCISE OF REGULATORY AUTHORITY? (Panel Discussion)

Co-Sponsored by the American Tax Policy Institute

Moderator: Eric Solomon, Steptoe & Johnson LLP
Panelists:
Julie A. Divola, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
Gil Rothenberg, American University and the University of Pennsylvania
Eric Solomon, Steptoe & Johnson LLP

Panel Description
Many federal judges believe that federal agencies are making law that should be made by Congress.  Taxpayers have been winning court cases asserting that tax regulations are invalid because they exceed the rulemaking authority granted to the Treasury Department.  This panel will explore this emerging area of controversy and its effect on the rulemaking process.

2:35 – 3:50 PM 

FEDERAL DEFICITS, FEDERAL DEBT & THE DEBT LIMIT (Panel Discussion)

Moderator: Zach Moller, Third Way
Panelists:
Leonard Burman, Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center
Grant Driessen, Congressional Research Service
Molly Saunders-Scott, Congressional Budget Office
Julie Topoleski, Congressional Budget Office

Panel Description
The federal budget is not on a sustainable long-term path. CBO’s latest estimates of the federal budget gap, total federal debt, and options for reducing the federal deficit will be presented.  Panelists will also discuss the latest efforts to raise the debt ceiling and the implications of not doing so.

3:50 – 4:00 PM

BREAK

4:00 – 4:45 PM 

PRESENTATION OF THE DANIEL M. HOLLAND MEDAL TO JANE GRAVELLE

Moderator: James Mackie, EY

Speakers:
Leonard Burman, Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center
Jennifer Gravelle Stratton,
General Accountability Office
Dennis Zimmerman,
formerly with the Congressional Research Service

Session Description
The Daniel M. Holland Medal recognizes lifetime achievement in the study of the theory and practice of public finance.  The 2022 recipient is Jane Gravelle, Senior Specialist in Economic Policy at the Congressional Research Service.

4:45 – 5:00 PM 

CLOSING REMARKS

Daphne Kenyon, National Tax Association

5:00 – 6:45 PM

RECEPTION

Friday, May 12, 2023

8:00 – 8:05 AM

WELCOME

Daphne Kenyon, National Tax Association

8:05 – 9:20 AM

LESSONS FROM THE PANDEMIC: ADMINISTRATIVE ISSUES IN DELIVERING ASSISTANCE THROUGH THE TAX SYSTEM (Panel Discussion)

Co-sponsored by the American Tax Policy Institute

Moderator: Gabriel Zucker, Code for America
Panelists:
Ariel Jurow Kleiman, Loyola Law School
Katherine Lim,
U.S. Department of Agriculture


Panel Description
The tax system is being used with increased frequency to deliver assistance to low-income individuals and families.  This panel will explore the challenges and potential solutions related to such efforts, including a discussion of lessons learned from the pandemic and the potential role for an IRS-developed e-filing tool.

9:20-10:45 AM

CAN ENERGY TAXATION BE USED TO ADDRESS CLIMATE CHANGE?

Moderator: Connor Dowd, Joint Committee on Taxation
Discussants:
Thornton Matheson, International Monetary Fund, Eric Toder, Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center

Is Broader Always Better?  Preexisting Taxes and the Scope of Emissions Pricing
Lawrence Goulder, Stanford University, Marc Hafstead, Resources for the Future, Rob Williams, University of Maryland

Fiscal, Distributional, and Environmental Impacts of the Inflation Reduction Act
Dallas Burtraw, Resources for the Future, Karen Palmer, Resources for the Future

Asymmetric Climate Policies and International Trade
Catherine Wolfram, Visiting Harvard University on leave from the University of California, Berkeley, Kimberly Clausing, University of California, Los Angeles

10:45 – 10:55AM 

BREAK

10:55- 12:15PM

CELEBRATING 75 YEARS OF THE NATIONAL TAX JOURNAL

Moderator: Andrew Samwick, Dartmouth College, NTJ

Speakers:
Joel Slemrod, University of Michigan
Rosanne Altshuler, Rutgers University
Therese McGuire, Northwestern University
George Zodrow, Rice University
William Gentry, Williams College

Session Description
Former editors of the National Tax Journal talk about lessons learned in the past 75 years in their respective fields and the big outstanding questions.  They will also discuss some of the most cited articles in the journal over that time period.

12:15 – 12:25 PM 

BREAK 

 

STATE-LOCAL TAX PROGRAM, PROGRAM CHAIR: Justin Ross, Indiana University

12:25 – 1:50 PM

KEYNOTE LUNCHEON AND PRESENTATION OF AWARDS 

Keynote: Social Inequality and Property Tax Assessment
Christopher Berry,
University of Chicago

AWARDS PRESENTATION

National Tax Journal Referee of the Year
National Tax Journal Richard Musgrave Prize
Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation in Government Finance & Taxation

Presenter:
Caroline Weber, University of Kentucky, NTJ

Award Recipients:
Laura Dague, Texas A&M University
Daniel Garrett
, University of Pennsylvania
Maggie Jones, U.S. Census Bureau

1:50 – 2:00 PM

BREAK

2:00 – 3:20 PM 

SOCIAL ISSUES IN STATE AND LOCAL PUBLIC FINANCE

Moderator: Gary Cornia, Brigham Young University
Discussants: Laura Dague, Texas A&M University, Daniel Garrett, University of Pennsylvania, Michael Hollar,  U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development


Can State Oversight Improve Local Property Assessments?  Evidence from Education Finance Reform
Alex Combs, University of Georgia
John Foster
, Southern Illinois University
Erin Troland
,
Federal Reserve Board of Governors

How Do Local Government Finances Respond to Opioid Epidemics?  Evidence from Hydrocodone Rescheduling
Mikhail Ivonchyk, University of Albany
Felipe Lozano
, University of Georgia

State Low Income Housing Credits: Impacts on Housing Affordability
Robert Buschman, Georgia State University
Kshitiz Shrestha, Georgia Sate University
Nicholas Warner, Georgia State University

Does Revenue-Motivated Policies Alter Who Receives Traffic Citations?  Evidence from Driver Race and Income in Indiana
Sian Mughan
, Arizona State University
Akheil Singla, Arizona State University

3:20 – 4:45 PM 

ISSUES IN ECONOMIC NEXUS (Panel Discussion)

Moderator: Joseph J. Cordes, George Washington University

Panelists:

Yuhua Qiao, Missouri State University
Michael Udell, District Economics Group
Drew VandenBrul, Grant Thornton
Jared Walczak, Tax Foundation

Panel Description
After Wayfair and the COVID-19 pandemic, states face a host of issues related to economic nexus resulting from remote work, unresolved Wayfair issues, online sales, and digital goods and services.

4:45 – 5:00 PM

CONCLUDING REMARKS

Daphne Kenyon, National Tax Association