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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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Headlines
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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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.
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Budget timeline: Annual
Fiscal Year starts: July 1
The current state budget can be found here.
Find the legislative session calendar here.
Find the current legislative leaders here.
Gov. Peter Shumlin
109 State Street
Montpelier, VT 05609
Phone: (802) 828-3333
Fax: (802) 828-3339
http://governor.vermont.gov/
James Reardon, Commissioner
Department of Finance & Management
Pavilion Office Building, 109 State Street
Montpelier, VT 05609-0401
Phone (802) 828-2376
http://finance.vermont.gov/
jim.reardon@state.vt.us
Want a more robust, long-term look at your state's fiscal health, beyond the budget? There are two parts: Click here for the FY2012 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) compiled by the state government, and click here for information on the state's pension liabilities.
No "balanced budget" requirement was found for the state of Vermont. However, Chapter 5, Section 308 of the State law creates a "budget stabilization trust fund" to offset any fund deficits for that fiscal year. Vermont law permits the carrying over of a deficit from one year to the next.
The State reports eighteen governmental funds of which six are classified as "major" governmental funds. These major funds are the General Fund, Transportation Fund, Education Fund, Special Fund, Federal Revenue Fund and Global Commitment Fund. The State began reporting the Global Commitment Fund in FY06. Prior to this, it only reported seventeen governmental funds. Each year, Vermont budgets all of its major governmental funds which is evident from the minor difference between actual and budgeted figures (revenues and expenditures). [from the Institute for Truth in Accounting]
Find the state's bond ratings here.
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State Debt :
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RESEARCH
Federal Aid to the States 2008-2011
It is well understood that the federal government must make spending cuts-these cuts will most likely drastically change the amount of federal dollars that are allocated to the states. Unfortunately for most states, dependence on federal funding has continually risen since 2008.
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HEADLINES
HHS Will Waive, Extend Deadline for Health Insurance Exchanges... Again
Not one, not two, but three extensions later, HHS basically tosses the "deadline" for state health insurance exchanges.
- View All Vermont 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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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.
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GASB changes to boost pressure for pension reform, Fitch report says
Impending changes in Governmental Accounting Standards Board standards in 2014 and 2015 should increase public pressure on decision-makers to reform state and local government pension plans, according to a report from Fitch Ratings.
- 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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