Alan Essig

Executive Director

Alan Essig

Areas of Expertise

State tax and budget policy

Alan Essig joined ITEP as its executive director in April 2017. Prior to leading ITEP, Mr. Essig was the founding executive director of the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute (GBPI) from 2004 to 2015.  GBPI is a research and education organization that studies state and federal budget and tax policies and their impact on Georgia. He is an expert on state budget and tax policy, having written numerous reports, analysis, and op-ed pieces on these issues.

Prior to ITEP and GBPI, Mr. Essig held numerous leadership positions within the Georgia state government, including deputy policy director to Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes, deputy commissioner of the Georgia Department of Human Resources, director of the Georgia State Senate Research Office, and committee staff to both the Georgia House of Representatives and Georgia State Senate appropriations committees. Mr. Essig has an undergraduate degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo and a master’s degree from the Nelson A. Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy at the State University of New York at Albany. He splits his time between East Lansing, Mich., and Washington D.C. and originally hails from New York City.

alan @ itep.org

Recent Publications and Posts   view more

  • The Problems with State Workarounds to the Federal SALT Deduction

    From the outset, states—particularly wealthier states—objected to the GOP’s proposal to limit SALT deductions in part because it reduces the amount of state and local taxes that the federal government essentially picks up for taxpayers (by allowing a SALT deduction, the federal government is, in effect, paying part of taxpayers’ state and local tax bill), which could hinder states’ ability to raise revenue. Simply focusing on SALT, though, misses the bigger picture. The fact remains that the overall tax bill disproportionately benefits higher-income taxpayers even with the $10,000 SALT cap in place. Responding to federal tax cuts that disproportionately benefit the rich with state proposals that help bestow more tax cuts on upper-income taxpayers is irrational.

Media Mentions  view more



ITEP

Washington, DC Office
1616 P Street, NW Suite 200
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202-299-1066
Fax: 202-299-1065
e-mail: [email protected]

North Carolina Office
307 W. Main Street, 106
Durham, NC 27701
Phone: 919-381-5918