Cory Eucalitto is an editor and author at State Budget Solutions and Sunshine Review. His areas of focus include state and local government transparency and state budget reform. Cory holds a B.A. in Politics focused on political theory from The Catholic University of America. He is originally from Florida and now resides in Washington, D.C.
Closing the gap to achieve fiscal balance over 50 years will require "action to be taken today and maintained for each year equivalent to a 14.2 percent reduction in the state and local government sector's current expenditures."
Citizens need to know where their dollars are being spent and they need to know where their elected representatives stand on a wide range of policy issues. Including dozens of policy issues that are only tangentially related to the budget, if at all, impedes both those goals.
Cultural issues work their way into state budget processes frequently. Without commenting on their objective validity, they more often than not distract elected officials and citizens alike from the primary focus of the budget process.
The many varied uses of tobacco settlement funds illustrate how any state can and will manipulate the budget process. The many ways lawmakers have manipulated this one source of state budget money shows the different ways officials rely on budget gimmicks.
State balanced budget requirements are far more complex than traditionally understood. Moving beyond these misconceptions is an important step in being able to recognize the many ways that policymakers manipulate state finances to "balance" budgets and put an end to the growth of state debt.
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