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