Kurt Wise
Senior Policy Analyst
Kurt Wise is a Senior Policy Analyst at the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, focusing on tax policy.
Before joining MassBudget, Kurt worked as a policy analyst at the Maine Center for Economic Policy and the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation.
In his twenties and early thirties, Kurt owned and operated a small, book wholesaling business. During that period, he also worked in cabinetry and construction, eventually designing and building his own, super-insulated home in the woods of Pelham, Massachusetts.
Kurt holds a master’s degree in Public Policy Analysis (MPP) from Duke University and a B.A. in Anthropology from UMass Amherst.
Recent
Final Tax Package Can Improve Tax Fairness & Help Build Toward Shared Prosperity
Currently, a conference committee is working on a compromise tax package between the House’s and Senate’s proposals. The fairest tax package would be one that delivers its benefits overwhelmingly to low- and middle-income households and which greatly limits tax cuts for very high-income and wealthy households.
UPDATED: High-Income Households Are Not Fleeing Massachusetts
Massachusetts has a lower rate of outmigration among high-income households than among other households. This is true both in the most recent year for which IRS data are available (2020-2021) and over the preceding ten years (2011-2021).
Debunking the Five Major Myths About Outmigration
Recently, multiple news articles, op-eds, and think tank reports have asserted that Massachusetts is suffering an exodus of households, particularly high-income households, fleeing to states with lower taxes. These claims about income migration are both overblown and based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the available data.
