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Headlines
Rich States, Poor States, 6th Edition
This 6th edition of Rich States, Poor States contains invaluable insight into each of the 50 "laboratories of democracy." With solid empirical research and the latest data on state economies, the evidence is clear on which state tax and fiscal policies directly lead to more opportunities, more jobs, and more prosperity for all Americans.
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Headlines : Arizona
Arizona Senate begins moving budget bills, could pass within days of introduction
The Arizona Senate began a final sprint to adjournment Wednesday as a committee debated 10 bills that provide $8.8 billion to fund education, health and welfare, and expansion of Medicaid.
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Headlines
Ex-Penn State president tops highest paid list
Presidents of public universities are taking home bigger paychecks, and a growing number are raking in more than $1 million.
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Headlines
What if the Internet Sales Tax Doesn't Make it Through Congress?
Some states are so anxious for the anticipated revenues they've already committed the money to various projects.
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Headlines
Williams: Marketplace Fairness Act and Internet taxes are not the answers to state budget problems
Bob Williams: Hoping for more federal stimulus or hoping the feds will allow taxes on the Internet will not solve the budget crises the states currently face. The problem is spending, not revenue.
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Budget Timeframe: Annual, although smaller agencies receive biennial budgets
Fiscal Year begins: July 1
Find the legislative session calendar here.
Find the current state budget here.
Find the current legislative leaders here.
Gov. Jan Brewer
Office of Governor Jan Brewer
1700 West Washington
Phoenix, AZ 85007
Phone: (602) 542-4331
Fax: (602) 542-7601
http://www.governor.state.az.us/
John Arnold, Director
Office of Strategic Planning & Budgeting
1700 W. Washington, Suite 500
Phoenix, AZ 85007
Phone: (602) 542-5381
Fax: (602) 542-0868
ospbadmin@az.gov
Want a more robust, long-term look at your state's fiscal health, beyond the budget? There are two parts: Click here for the FY2011 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) compiled by the state government, and click here for information on the state's pension liabilities.
Arizona is required to pass a “balanced budget." Article IX, Section 3 of the 1912 Constitution requires the legislature to initiate an annual tax to pay for any state debt within twenty-five years of the passage of the law creating that debt. Moreover, Section 5 sets the debt limit at $350,000, and Section 17 sets a spending cap for appropriations at 7% of the total state personal income. It also authorizes the legislature to override the cap by 2/3 vote. Arizona law does not forbid the carrying over of a deficit from one year to the next.
The State maintains three individual major governmental funds: the General Fund; Transportation & Aviation Planning, Highway Maintenance & Safety Fund; and the Land Endowments Fund. The State prepares its operating budget on the cash basis of accounting and budgets two of the major funds the General Fund and; the Transportation & Aviation Planning, Highway Maintenance & Safety Fund; along with Non-major Special Revenue Funds. Regardless of how many funds are budgeted, Arizona does not budget revenues for any of them. [from the Institute for Truth in Accounting]
Find the state's bond ratings here.
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Pensions :
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HEADLINES: Arizona
Public-safety pensions fund billions short despite $300 mil a year from taxpayers
Taxpayers now contribute more than $300 million a year - a 500 percent increase from 2003 and roughly three times what employees pay into the system. Even so, the system remains underfunded by nearly $4.3 billion.
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HEADLINES
GAO finds growing state, local fiscal gap with Medicaid to blame
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."
- View All Arizona articles
Medicaid :
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HEADLINES: Arizona
Arizona Senate begins moving budget bills, could pass within days of introduction
The Arizona Senate began a final sprint to adjournment Wednesday as a committee debated 10 bills that provide $8.8 billion to fund education, health and welfare, and expansion of Medicaid.
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HEADLINES
Study shows Medicaid has little positive effect on health outcomes
While the debate about Medicaid expansion continues on in several states, a recent study reveals that new beneficiaries may use their new health coverage more often, but won't actually be much healthier because of it.
- View All Arizona articles
Higher Education :
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HEADLINES
Ex-Penn State president tops highest paid list
Presidents of public universities are taking home bigger paychecks, and a growing number are raking in more than $1 million.
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HEADLINES
Performance based funding becoming the new norm in higher education
As universities and colleged continue to struggle with declining revenues, states are increasingly looking to performance-based funding in an effort to get more bang for their limited higher education dollars.
- View All Arizona articles
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Solutions:
How Reality-Based Budgeting Can Permanently Resolve State Budget Gaps
State Budget Solutions recommends that state legislators take action in 2013 to resolve the serious state financial crises by changing their focus from inputs to outcomes by redesigning budgets from the ground up based on priorities and performance.
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Solutions:
How to Prevent Future Pension Crises
The time for state and local governments to offer defined contribution retirement plans that protect both taxpayer dollars and public employee retirement security is now.
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Solutions:
State Lawmaker’s Guide to Evaluating Medicaid Expansion Projections
Supporters of Obamacare claim that expanding Medicaid will entail little to no cost to state governments, since the federal government will fund the vast majority of the additional costs. Indeed, some analyses project states achieving savings from adopting the expansion. However, state lawmakers should be wary of accepting such analyses at face value.
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Solutions:
Medicaid Is Broken—Let the States Fix It
Block-granting Medicaid is the best way to deliver better, cost-effective care to the most vulnerable Americans.
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Solutions:
The Case for Reform: Prisons
Prisons are supremely important, but they are also a supremely expensive government program, and thus prison systems must be held to the highest standards of accountability.
- View All Solutions
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Arizona
Public-safety pensions fund billions short despite $300 mil a year from taxpayers
Taxpayers now contribute more than $300 million a year - a 500 percent increase from 2003 and roughly three times what employees pay into the system. Even so, the system remains underfunded by nearly $4.3 billion.
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State Pension Litigation Update, May 2013
In attempts to reign in the costs of pensions, state lawmakers legislate pension reform. Challengers to those reforms often bring suit, alleging violations of state law, contracts, and the Constitution.
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GAO finds growing state, local fiscal gap with Medicaid to blame
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."
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In Congress, a Bill Seeks to Tie Municipal Borrowing Power to Public Pension Disclosure
Representatives from California and two other states introduced a bill in Congress on Thursday that would strip states and cities of their right to issue tax-exempt bonds unless they first disclosed the true cost of their pension plans and whether they could pay it.
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States move along different roads to tackle underfunding dilemma
More states are enacting measures to help improve the solvency of their public pension funds as funding ratios remain low.
- View All Pensions
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BLOG: Higher Education, Spending
Who is the highest paid state employee in your state?
Time to add a new diagram to the state budget and policy playbook--your state's highest paid employee is probably a football or basketball coach.
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BLOG: Medicaid
Medicaid expansion won't yield quality health care
The bombshell Oregon Medicaid study released this week should give all states pause as they consider plans to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. States must now ask what the point of Medicaid is in the first place.
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BLOG: Budget Gimmicks, Budget Processes and Systems, Measures to Balance Budgets, Spending, State Debt
Let's Put Privatizing Municipal Services Back on the Table
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BLOG: Unions
Airing Out the Smoke-filled Rooms: Bringing Transparency to Public Union Collective Bargaining
To help prevent union strong-arming that fleeces taxpayers, we should know precisely what public union officials are demanding and what government employers are offering in any collective negotiation about employment terms and conditions.
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BLOG: Budget Gimmicks, Budget Processes and Systems, Budget Transparency, Federal Government Impact, Federal Government Impact, Measures to Balance Budgets, Pensions, Revenue, Spending, State Debt
Yes, Your Paycheck is Smaller...And it May Get Worse
And it isn’t just individuals who must reconfigure budgets, the states are looking at smaller “paychecks” as well.
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