Business

And with the economy in such solid shape before Covid-19 struck, plenty of states and localities look like they’ll be able to muddle through the next fiscal year — which for most of them starts in July. “This crisis is still in its very early stages,” said Carl Davis of the liberal Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Davis noted that the last recession began in December 2007, about nine months before the global financial system really imploded. And yet, many state tax increases didn’t happen until 2009 or even later as they dealt with the fallout. “There’s a bit of lag, with state lawmakers often waiting to raise taxes until they’re confronted with having to enact terrible budget cuts,” Davis said. In fact, some states right now aren’t even leaning that heavily on their rainy ...

The panel’s chair countered that such ambitious proposals would resonate with Democratic voters. “This is good politics for Joe Biden and for the Democratic Party,” said Michelle Deatrick who led the panel and was a surrogate for Sen. Bernie Sanders during the primaries, calling climate change “one of the top two issues for Democrats and a lot of independents.” “Trump’s going to call Biden a lefty no matter what, right?” she said. “So let’s energize our base, let’s energize the middle. Let’s do what’s right because the planet is at stake.” The 12-person panel, which became a permanent DNC entity in February, is stocked with progressives rather than traditional party power players. It includes environmental activists, environmental justice organizers, academics, a labor representative, a fa...