Benjamin R. Freed
Verified
As seen in:
POLITICO,
The Washington Post,
BuzzFeed,
Slate,
The New Republic,
Letterboxd,
Slate France,
Bloomberg Law,
Washington City Paper,
Before It's News,
Washingtonian
and
This account is now locked and no longer monitored actively, and will be deleted soon. See pinned post.
Articles by Benjamin R. Freed
States Still Decoupling From GOP Tax Law Deep Into Filing Season Original
Tax-filing season is well underway, and yet many states are still figuring out whether to conform to or decouple from provisions in last year’s GOP-led tax overhaul, especially the deductions and other breaks for corporate taxpayers. The upshot is one of the more complicated filing periods in recent years. Corporate taxpayers are watching which states reject federal tax policy changes, such as those related to immediate expensing for research and development or property investments.
Mamdani’s NYC Tax Agenda Prompts Advisers to Caution Patience Original
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani ran on an expansive affordability agenda that would be paid for by higher taxes on corporations and wealthy individuals. The democratic socialist’s vision will be tough to realize, though, because any tax hikes would have to be approved by the New York State legislature and tax hike-averse Gov. Kathy Hochul (D). Local tax practitioners are emphasizing this political reality to worried clients who called and emailed in a hurry after Mandani won the Nov.
Firms Highlight High Cost of Landmark Lease Accounting Rules Original
The accounting overhaul that put leased real estate, airplanes, and equipment on corporate balance sheets strained businesses more than anticipated given headcount and software constraints, accountants told standard-setters. “It’s definitely a cost I think above and beyond what a lot of our companies that we’ve worked with have expected,” said Blake Collins, a partner in technical accounting and IPO services at Connor Group.
Grant Thornton Acquires M&A Diligence Firm in Latest PE Deal Original
Grant Thornton Advisors announced Tuesday it will acquire Stax, a strategy consulting firm specializing in commercial due diligence, value creation, and exit-planning services for private equity firms, marking the firm’s latest PE-backed acquisition.. Stax, headquartered in Boston, provides buy- and sell-side diligence and planning for merger and acquisition activities and employs about 300 people who will join Grant Thornton when the deal closes, according to a press release.
State of Tax: California Tax Tribunal Power, Georgia Uber Brief Original
The week in state tax news: The California Office of Tax Appeals can decide against applying other tax agencies’ regulations when issuing opinions, according to the state attorney general. Meanwhile, Boston’s business elite are pushing a pair of tax-cutting ballot questions, and Georgia’s revenue department asks the state’s top court to pass on Uber’s appeal of an $8.9 million sales tax bill.
State of Tax: Maryland Digital Ad Tax in Court, Chicago Head Tax
The week in state tax news: Apple, Google, and Peacock made their cases against Maryland’s digital ad tax over four long days of evidentiary hearings at the state Tax Court. Meanwhile, Chicago’s mayor floats bringing back the city’s “head tax” on corporations to stave off a budget gap, and Colorado faces headwinds of its own amid the new federal tax law.
DC Mayor Says City Can Weather ‘DOGE Economy’ Without Tax Hikes Original
Washington, DC can weather the impact of the Trump administration’s actions on the city’s financial health without needing to raise taxes on individuals or businesses, Mayor Muriel Bowser said. The District is grappling with what she called the “DOGE economy” after mass reductions in the federal workforce and a federal stopgap spending measure earlier this year that effectively forced a $1 billion cut to DC’s current fiscal year budget.
State of Tax: Maryland Budget, 'Jock Tax' Judge Assigns Homework Original
The week in state tax news: Maryland adopted a budget for fiscal 2026 that includes a new levy drawing fire from the tech industry, while also creating new tax brackets for the state’s top earners. Meanwhile, judges in Pennsylvania’s “jock tax” case have more questions after oral arguments, and a GOP member of Congress predicts where the SALT cap will land.
Don't Weep for 50 Cent: He Can Get His Tax Break Somewhere Else
X Your Choices Regarding Cookies and Identifiers We and our 150 third party partners use cookies and similar technologies ("Cookies") and hashed identifiers (e.g., a hashed version of your name, email address or phone number) to help us identify you on our site and third-party sites and to process certain information, such as your IP address and digital identifiers, to analyze site usage and provide you with relevant advertisements and content.
Don't Weep for 50 Cent: He Can Get His Tax Break Somewhere Else
No one was more shocked than 50 Cent when the Louisiana House last week voted to gut the state’s film tax credit program. After all, he’d agreed in April to open his G-Unit Studios in Shreveport, lured in no small part by a program that gives tax breaks of up to $150 million annually to movie and TV productions that come to the state. But shed no tears. If Louisiana’s Senate and Gov.
Oregon Corporate Tax Hike Defeated as Voters Decide Tax Measures Original
Oregon voters Tuesday rejected a ballot measure that would have raised the minimum income tax on a handful of large corporations to fund annual rebates to residents. The proposal (Measure 118) would have increased the state’s corporate income tax revenue by up to $15.6 billion and generated $17.1 billion in rebates during the 2027-29 biennium, according to a legislative fiscal analysis.
Voters Reject Oregon Corporate Hike, Back Georgia Tax Court (1)
Oregon voters Tuesday rejected a ballot measure that would have raised the minimum income tax on a handful of large corporations to fund annual rebates to residents. The proposal (Measure 118) would have increased the state’s corporate income tax revenue by up to $15.6 billion and generated $17.1 billion in rebates during the 2027-29 biennium, according to a legislative fiscal analysis.
Effort to Put Elected Board Over California Tax Policy Shelved
A bill meant to give supervision of California’s myriad tax agencies to an elected board failed to advance out of a key state Senate committee. The bill (S.B. 1436) would have created a five-member Tax Policy Oversight Board and would have restored a measure of authority to the State Board of Equalization, which was stripped of much of its power seven years ago following a string of ethical and legal controversies.
Inside Malta Pension Promoters’ Effort to Outsmart IRS (Podcast) Original
For more than a year, a group of wealth management advisers met regularly to devise strategies to defend their wealthy clients’ keeping their riches in individual retirement arrangements based in Malta. Listen here and subscribe to Talking Tax on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Megaphone, or Audible.
Verdicts on Abortion, Boomer Judges, Taxes: Ballots & Boundaries
An abortion constitutional amendment in Ohio showed what a turnout-driver that issue is, even in a state that Donald Trump won twice. Yesterday’s vote — which wasn’t even close — was the latest in a string of political victories for Democrats and their allies in the aftermath of the US Supreme Court decision last year overturning Roe v Wade and the constitutional right to abortion. READ MORE about the result and how it fits into the big picture.
Texas Votes to Outlaw Additional Taxes on Wealthy Residents Original
Texas voters made clear Tuesday the state won’t levy a tax on high-net-worth residents, approving a ballot measure denying the state Legislature the option of imposing a wealth tax. The ballot question (Proposition 3) updates the state constitution by outlawing something that’s been floated in at least eight states—unsuccessfully, so far—but not in the famously anti-tax Lone Star State.
CISA awards nonprofits $3 million to bolster cyber workforce
Two nonprofit organizations are receiving $1.5 million each from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to bolster cyber workforce development and training for underserved communities, the agency announced Friday. One recipient, the South Memphis Renewal Community Development Corporation, has worked for more than two decades to enhance the lives of those in underserved communities.
New D.C. CTO Christopher Rodriguez arrested and charged with domestic assault
Washington D.C.’s newly appointed chief technology officer and assistant city administrator, Christopher Rodriguez, was arrested and charged with domestic assault on Thursday, NBC reported on Friday. The former director of the district’s Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency was arrested early Thursday morning at his home in northwest D.C., NBC reported.
Tyler Technologies fails to hit quarterly revenue targets
Tyler Technologies, a major IT service provider to the public sector, missed Wall Street estimates for its third-quarter revenue, Reuters reported on Wednesday. The company posted $494.7 million in revenue for the third quarter ending on Sept. 30, which fell below analysts’ estimates of $495.9 million, according to LSEG data.
San Jose adds new license plate readers across city, promises to prioritize data privacy
San Jose, California is increasing the number of automatic license plate readers — or ALPRs — at major intersections across the city, but officials are taking steps to prioritize data privacy, according to an announcement made via social media on Monday.
Colorado higher education dept. failed to promptly disclose data breach
The Colorado Department of Higher Education waited more than a month to report a massive data breach to the state attorney general’s office, evading state law, according to an investigation by the Denver Gazette. As in many states, government agencies in Colorado are required by law to report any data security breach within 30 days of discovery.
Stanford public safety system secured after cyberattack
Stanford University is investigating a cybersecurity incident involving its Department of Public Safety, the university announced Friday. Administrators said the impacted system has since been secured and there’s no indication the attack affected any other area of the university. “Our privacy and information security teams have been giving this matter their concerted attention, in coordination with outside specialists,” the university wrote in the announcement.
Code for America finally ratifies first union contract
The civic tech nonprofit Code for America announced Monday it’s reached a collective bargaining agreement with its union, CfA Workers United, following nearly two years of negotiations. The agreement, which is in place through Jan. 1, 2026, includes annual pay raises of 3.4% over the next two years, expanded paid maternal leave, open paid time off and layoff protections, among other benefits.
Dallas County infectious disease system upgrade helped curb mpox outbreak
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Dallas County, Texas, its paper-based, infectious disease reporting software was woefully unprepared. “We were dealing with literally stacks of paper, faxes and lab reports. We had medical students manually entering the data,” said Dr. Philip Huang, the county’s Health and Human Services Department director.
Philadelphia cyberattack compromised health data of city employees
Philadelphia on Friday disclosed it had been hit by a cyberattack in May and that the malicious actors may have accessed the personal data and health information of city employees through their email accounts. In a Notice of Privacy Incident statement, city officials said they became aware of “suspicious activity” in city email systems in May.
U.S Digital Response to aid state, local governments with IT workforce challenge
The nonprofit civic tech group U.S. Digital Response is leading a new initiative to assist state and local government agencies hire and retain staff with digital skills. The group announced the new workforce program last week, aimed at providing guidance for hiring, best recruitment practices and onboarding retention programs. USDR leaders said they’ve already assisted some state and local agencies in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Indiana.
New tool will allow New Yorkers to e-file taxes for free in 2024
Eligible New Yorkers will soon be able to electronically file their taxes for free. Governor Kathy Hochul announced Friday that New York’s State Department of Taxation and Finance is partnering with Code for America on a direct filing tool. The partnership is part of a limited, scaled pilot with several other states, including Arizona, California, and Massachusetts, to integrate e-filing tools with the IRS’ federal tax-filing system.
Code for America building free tax e-filing system for New York, other states
Eligible New Yorkers will soon be able to electronically file their taxes for free. Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Friday that the New York Department of Taxation and Finance is partnering with the civic tech nonprofit Code for America on a direct filing tool. The partnership is part of a limited pilot with several other states — including Arizona, California and Massachusetts — to integrate e-filing tools with the IRS’ federal tax-filing system.
New York State partners with universities on AI research center
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul this week announced a $20 million investment that aims to advance the state’s artificial intelligence goals through a collaboration between the University of Albany, IBM and a new AI research group with the State University of New York. The collaboration will create the Center for Emerging Artificial Intelligence Systems, where researchers will conduct projects that advance cloud computing and emerging hardware.
Maryland CIO eyes statewide council for technology planning
Maryland will create a new council within the next few months to convene state leaders on technology issues, state Chief Information Officer Katie Savage told StateScoop on Tuesday. Savage said the committee will include IT leaders from various agencies with the aim of centralizing technology conversations. She said initial conversations will center on the projects that each agency wants to invest in and each agency’s long-term vision for technology in Maryland.
NASCIO adds Arizona CIO J.R. Sloan to executive committee
Arizona Chief Information Officer J.R. Sloan will join the National Association of State Chief Information Officers’ executive team as secretary treasurer for the 2024 program year, the association announced Tuesday.
University of Tennessee buys new Oracle student information system
The University of Tennessee System is replacing its former student data information system with Oracle Fusion Cloud Student in its ongoing migration to the cloud. The university system previously used Banner and CAMS systems for student data. The new system with Oracle aims to provide students with streamlined access to their classes, financial aid and other university support.
Georgia tech chief departing after two years
Dmitry Kagansky last week announced he’ll leave his position as chief technology officer with the Georgia Technology Authority at the end of the month. Kagansky was appointed as Georgia’s chief cloud officer in 2021 and promoted to state CTO in 2022 after Steve Nichols left the position. Kagansky announced his departure in a LinkedIn post on Oct. 13, which StateScoop confirmed with the technology department. “I have learned immensely from the experience,” Kagansky wrote in the post.
D.C. mayor names former Homeland Security director as acting CTO
Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser on Friday named Christopher Rodriguez, a former director of the city’s Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency, as its new acting chief technology officer. Rodriguez replaces Michael Rupert, whom Bowser appointed as interim CTO in April.
FCC shares deadlines for broadband consumer labels
Broadband providers will have to display easy-to-understand information about the cost and performance of broadband services both online and in stores by 2024, according to a Wednesday announcement from the Federal Communications Commission. Most large broadband providers must have labels for their services by April 10, 2024, and providers with 100,000 or fewer subscriber lines must have labels by Oct. 10, 2024, the FCC said in a press release.
NASCIO honors Illinois CISO with cybersecurity leadership award
Illinois Chief Information Security Officer Adam Ford this week received the 2023 Thomas M. Jarrett State Cybersecurity Leadership Award from the National Association of Chief Information Officers at its annual conference in Minneapolis. NASCIO recognized Ford for his role in promoting and advancing cybersecurity in the state and implementing best practices since he took over as CISO in 2019.
Kansas governor appoints CISO Jeff Maxon as tech chief
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly announced Tuesday she’s appointed Jeff Maxon, the state’s chief information security officer, as the new statewide chief information technology officer, the top IT position in the state. Maxon, who’d been serving as interim CITO since the departure of DeAngela Burns-Wallace in January, joined the Kansas state government in 2009. He also serves in the Kansas Air National Guard, according to the governor’s press release.
BlackCat ransomware group claims attack on Florida court system
Following a cyberattack on Florida’s First Judicial Circuit Court system last week, the ransomware group BlackCat has claimed responsibility for the incident, adding that it accessed personal data like Social Security numbers and CVs of judges and court employees. As reported by Bleeping Computer, the BlackCat ransomware group, also known as ALPHV, claimed responsibility for the attack on the Northwest Florida courts system.
States vary on cyber awareness, workforce approaches
Cybersecurity continues to be the top concern of state chief information officers, but Arkansas IT Secretary Jonathan Askins recommended states focus on their defense postures rather than the threats themselves. “I think people confuse that sometimes, they think they have a culture of information security because they know about all the different threats that are out there, but they can’t tell you what their defense posture is,” Askins said at a conference on Tuesday.
New York lost $775M in cyberattacks on critical infrastructure in 2022, report says
Cyberattacks on New York’s critical infrastructure are on the rise, according to a report the state comptroller’s office released last week. The state experienced more than 25,000 cyberattacks in 2022, up 53% from 16,400 incidents in 2016, costing the state in excess of $775 million. Critical infrastructure attacks involve systems and assets that are vital for the functioning of society, the economy and national security, the report said.
Ethics before adoption on generative AI, say state officials
A code of ethics must precede policies when it comes to generative artificial intelligence, Vermont AI director Josiah Raiche said Monday to a room packed full of vendors and state technology leaders. “The goal is to take the robot jobs out of the human work,” Raiche told the National Association of State Chief Information Officers’ annual conference, held this week in Minneapolis.
Sustainable funding, workforce challenge whole-of-state cybersecurity transition
Collaboration among stakeholders is still a challenge as more states move to a whole-of-state approach to cybersecurity, but improved communication and sustainable funding would allow states to make more gains, officials said at a conference Monday.
New Maryland grant program supports innovative infrastructure
A new grant program administered by the Maryland Department of Commerce aims to provide financial assistance to innovative infrastructure projects that demonstrate a transformative impact on the growth of the state’s strategic industry sectors. The pilot for the Build Our Future grant program is funded at $10 million and will provide matching grants up to $2 million to eligible projects, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore announced Wednesday.
New dashboard allows Michiganders to track state’s COVID relief spending
Michigan’s State Budget Office published an online dashboard so residents can learn how the state is investing $6.5 billion in flexible state fiscal recovery funds it received as part of 2021’s American Rescue Plan. The new Fiscal Recovery Funds Dashboard, announced on Thursday, allows users to visualize state projects on a map, which can be filtered by census tract and state legislative or congressional district.
New cybersecurity center at UC San Diego to research ransomware mitigation
The University of California San Diego School of Medicine this week announced it received $9.5 million to help researchers develop better ways to prevent and mitigate ransomware attacks against health care systems. The number of ransomware attacks on health care organizations more than doubled from 2016 to 2021, according to an investigation by the Journal of the American Medical Association.
NASCIO's latest cloud survey finds rising adoption
The National Association of State Chief Information Officers published a report Tuesday finding that most state CIOs are developing strategies to optimize the cloud’s potential — more than 88% of respondents said their state’s agencies are expediting cloud adoption. The new report, published in conjunction with the IT firm Accenture, is a follow-up to the organization’s first edition of the cloud survey, which was published in 2021.
Ransomware delayed pay for school staff in Arizona county
The paychecks of more than 4,500 employees across 14 school districts in Pinal County, Arizona, were delayed last week following a ransomware attack. The attack on the School Office of Data Processing and Service Consortium in Pinal County, which straddles Phoenix and Tucson, was discovered on Sept. 24, and staff worked “around the clock” to restore access, according to a statement shared Thursday.
Connecticut to spend $25M on new voting machines
Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont announced Wednesday that the state’s Bond Commission is set to approve $25 million in funds to completely replace the state’s voting machines. This is the first time Connecticut has implemented a complete replacement of its voting machines since it stopped using lever machines 17 years ago, according to Lamont’s office. Once the commission approves the funds, the secretary of state’s office will ask for proposals from manufacturers to provide the equipment.
NASCIO publishes strategy guide for states' future threats
The National Association of State Chief Information Officers on Thursday published a new guide designed to help technology leaders outline strategies that prepare their states for a host of threats — from climate-driven events like storms and wildfires to the barrage of cyberattacks that agencies continue to weather.
Millions of files with potentially sensitive information exposed online, researchers say
Thousands of computers and other internet-connected devices are exposing millions of files with potentially sensitive data across the internet, either inadvertently or on purpose, leaving the data discoverable and potentially exploitable in any number of ways, an analysis published Wednesday found.
Show More
loading
Actions
Get in touch with Benjamin R.
Contact Benjamin R., search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack