Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Nicholas Johnson

Areas of Expertise: State Budget and Tax

Johnson serves as Director of the State Fiscal Project, which analyzes state tax and budget policy decisions and develops responsible alternatives that take into account the needs of families of all income levels and promote long-term sustainability and accountability.

Since joining the Center in 1996, he has researched the impact of federal budget actions on states, the effects of state tax and expenditure limitations, the impact of state tax policies on low-income families, and the economy’s impact on state budgets, among other topics.

In 2010 State Tax Notes magazine named Johnson to its “All Decade State Tax Team.”

In 2004 Mr. Johnson received the Ian Axford Fellowship in Public Policy, a program financed by the New Zealand government and administered by Fulbright New Zealand. Through this fellowship, he spent six months as an advisor to the New Zealand Treasury and the New Zealand Ministry of Social Development, conducting research on that country’s programs of tax relief and cash assistance for low-income families.

Johnson’s analysis or commentary has been featured in the Washington Post, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, and numerous state and regional newspapers, and he has appeared as a guest on such television and radio programs as ABC's Nightline and National Public Radio's All Things Considered and the Diane Rehm Show, as well as Fox News, PBS, and BBC television.

He came to the Center from the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry, where he worked on rural development, food stamps, child nutrition, and related budget issues.

Johnson holds a graduate degree from Duke University's Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy.