Hey, Republicans: run on abolishing state income taxes this year!
Republicans have an opportunity to stop playing defense on the economy, creating an environment where Donald Trump’s broader economic agenda could be felt more fully.
Joseph Ford Cotto | February 3, 2026
For millions of Americans, the cost of living feels less like an abstract economic trend and more like a daily penalty for where they live.
Rent, groceries, energy, and taxes keep climbing in the same states, year after year. Meanwhile, other parts of the country move ahead with steadier prices, stronger job growth, and rising incomes. That divide is not accidental. It is the product of policy, and state income taxes sit squarely at the center of it.
As the midterms approach, Republicans have an opportunity to stop playing defense on the economy.
They should start naming the single most powerful reform still left on the table: abolishing state income taxes. Doing so would not only sharpen the contrast between red and blue governance. It would allow Donald Trump’s broader economic agenda to be felt more fully, rather than continually blunted by high-tax states that now weigh down national growth.
A January analysis from the White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) examined the economic impact of eliminating state income taxes using federal data and state-by-state modeling. The results confirm what Americans already react to with their feet.
States without broad personal income taxes, including Florida, Texas, Tennessee, and others, consistently outperform high-tax peers in gross domestic product (GDP) growth and domestic migration. Five of the nine no-income-tax states rank in the top ten for GDP growth, while four rank in the top ten for net migration.
High-income-tax states show the opposite pattern.
more
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2026/02/hey_republicans_run_on_abolishing_state_income_taxes_this_year.html
