Fiscal Policy Solutions

About

Jared Walczak is president of Walczak Policy Consulting and a Senior Fellow at the Tax Foundation, where he spent five years as Vice President of State Projects. He is also a member of the faculty of the Institute for Professionals in Taxation (IPT), serves on the state tax advisory board of the Institute for State Policy Leaders (ISPL), and contributes to Tax Notes State magazine. He is the author of the new “SALT Road” Substack, a free newsletter on state tax policy.

With more than a decade of experience in state tax policy, Jared works closely with lawmakers across the country to promote fiscally responsible, pro-growth tax reform. His research, analysis, legislative testimony, speaking engagements, and media appearances help inform the state tax policy debate. In his role with the Tax Foundation, Jared has written or co-written tax reform guides for more than a dozen states, and has served as the principal author of the State Tax Competitiveness Index (formerly the State Business Tax Climate Index) and Location Matters. He has written more than 500 pieces for the Tax Foundation, including hundreds of blog posts, nearly 150 white papers, and several book-length studies.

Jared is a regular on the conference circuit, speaking at conferences of the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), the Institute for State Policy Leaders (ISPL), the Council of State Governments (CSG), the State Policy Network (SPN), the National Taxpayers Conference (NTC), the Federation of Tax Administrators (FTA), the National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO), the National Association of State Chambers (NASC), the National Tax Association (NTA), the Villanova SALT Forum, and the Governmental Research Association (GRA), along with the conferences and events of many state chambers, taxpayers’ organizations, and think tanks.

Jared is also well-known in state capitols, and has testified before legislatures in 35 states. His efforts have been instrumental in securing tax reform in many states, including the sweeping reforms in Iowa and Louisiana, along with substantive reforms in Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming, among others.

Prior to entering the tax policy space, Jared served as legislative director to a Virginia state senator and as policy director for a statewide campaign, and consulted on research and policy development for a number of candidates and elected officials.

Through Walczak Policy Consulting, Jared offers a range of tax and fiscal policy services to think tanks, business groups, and other groups interested in sound tax policy. Whether it’s a research project, a white paper, writing op-eds or blog posts, giving presentations (virtually or in person), or consulting with an organization’s in-house experts, Walczak Policy Consulting has timely, affordable solutions to help groups develop and promote competitive, pro-growth policies at the state and local level. Click here to get in touch.

The SALT Road

For millennia, salt roads were essential thoroughfares of commerce, connecting disparate regions and cultures and influencing every region they touched. State and local tax (SALT) is a little like that: it runs through, and has an effect upon, just about everything we do. Hence The SALT Road, a new Substack newsletter on state and local tax policy, liberally salted with other economic and fiscal policy-adjacent musings and resources. Regular features include:

• a roundup of important developments in state and local tax
• analysis of key and emerging tax policy issues
• resources, including maps and charts, that are free for use in your own publications
• links to essential reading elsewhere
• occasional reviews and analysis of relevant books, articles, and arising issues in economics and public finance