STATE BUDGET SNAPSHOTS
Policy Briefs
Public Employee Costs Sap Budgets and Constrain Reform
Analyzing the fiscal dynamics of the civil service system reveals some of the most significant constraints and opportunities legislators confront in balancing state budgets.
State Budgets Are Broken by Spending, Employee Costs and Federal Interference
Issue brief examining the state budget process to determine what factors have contributed to the broken budgets of so many states.
Health Care Reform, Medicaid and State Budget Woes
Passage of healthcare reform in Washington is sparking concern in some state capitals that Medicaid costs will quickly escalate, exacerbating the already unprecedented levels of deficits among state budgets.
Federal "Stimulus" Deepens State Budget Woes
Revenue shortfalls will make budgeting for FY 2011 particularly difficult for state legislators. The task will be made tortuously more complex by an entirely new set of fiscal obligations resulting from states' use of federal "stimulus" funds.
Solutions
Fiscal Evasion in State Budgeting
JULY 22, 2010 by EILEEN NORCROSS
The inconsistent identification of poor fiscal practice indicates the lack of a common framework against which to assess the fiscal choices of states. This paper establishes a basic definitional framework that can be used to assess long-running fiscal practices in the states against a standard of fiscal prudence. The aim is to further refine this framework to capture the drivers of the states' long-running fiscal problems and to offer recommendations for reform.
Transparency Key to Fixing State Budget Crises
MARCH 15, 2010 by MIKE BARNHART
Transparency, and the accountability that follows, is necessary for state's to fix their fiscal problems. Citizens should now demand ready access to state and local government budgets, regulations, contracts, and contacts. Absent transparency, there is far greater risk of continued failure, corruption, fraud, waste and regulatory abuse.
Reality-Based Budgeting: How to permanently resolve state budget gaps
FEBRUARY 26, 2010 by BOB WILLIAMS
Commentary explaining what priority and reality-based budgeting is, how it works, and how it can prevent overspending in cash-strapped states. Priority and reality-based budgeting serves citizens well by ensuring government delivers essential services as efficiently and effectively as possible and maximizes the value of each hard-earned tax dollar.
The Trillion Dollar Gap: Underfunded State Retirement Systems and the Road to Reforms
APRIL 9, 2010 by SUSAN URAHN
In many states, the bill for public sector retirement benefits already threatens strained budgets. It will continue to rise significantly if states do not bring down costs or set aside enough money to pay for them. This report illustrates that a growing number of states are taking action to change how retirement benefits are set, how they are funded and how costs are managed.
Blog
On the Dole
SEPTEMBER 3, 2010 by BRYAN LEONARD
In June, I blogged about the incentives facing our elected representatives and how those incentives lead to bigger government. Recent events in my life have considerably widened my gaze on the incentive issue.
Initiative Battle 2010
SEPTEMBER 2, 2010 by KELI CARENDER
GAO: State, local governments 'will steadily decline'
AUGUST 29, 2010 by FRANK KEEGAN
Time to reset state union rules
AUGUST 24, 2010 by JASON MERCIER
