About the STARR Partnership

The State Taxes After Reform and Recession (STARR) Partnership was formed after the enactment of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) at the end of 2017 in order to help the business community navigate the state response to federal tax reform. Because states base their income tax codes on federal law, the TCJA had far-reaching policy and revenue impacts at the state level.

The driving force behind federal business tax reform was the desire to remove disincentives to invest and create jobs in the U.S. for all businesses. That driving force also motivated the expansion of the STARR Partnership to ensure pro-growth tax policy responses to the COVID-19 induced recession.

The STARR Partnership works with the business community to educate states on how best to respond to not only federal tax reform but also the economic and tax revenue effects of the COVID-19 recession. Our goal is to help states better understand how to remove barriers to investment and job creation. The STARR Partnership helps leading businesses with national interests shape state tax reform debates, and since inception we’ve succeeded in influencing the outcome in nearly all states passing TCJA implementation legislation in one or more of our key issue areas. 

Despite early fears, most states have suffered mild to moderate revenue losses in the wake of the COVID-19 recession. However, businesses have also experienced significant declines, particularly those that shut down physical locations in order to keep their employees and customers safe. Punitive measures on the business community are not the answer for states as they attempt to facilitate an economic recovery. 

The STARR Partnership continues to liaison with the business community and state policymakers to send the message that blindly conforming to all federal changes and punitive taxes on businesses counteract many of the economic growth goals of tax reform.