New Perspectives on State Government Fiscal Challenges

Barry W. Poulson; John Merrifield

doi:10.5771/9781666932041

Summary

In this book on new fiscal approaches, nineteen experts examine topics ranging from constitutional reform and debt fatigue to fiscal rules and zero-based budgeting. Together, these contributions inform a multifaceted, nuanced argument for the need to formalize spending restraint and redefine state debt to include unfunded liabilities. Scholars will find the book useful as a reference tool explaining how rules-based fiscal policy is used to address debt fatigue and unsustainable spending growth. Legislators and practitioners will find the book useful as a reference source in designing and simulating second generation fiscal rules, and educators will find the book helpful for its close analysis of policies in representative states such as Illinois, New York, New Jersey, Nebraska, and California.

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Bibliographic data

Copyright year: 2023
ISBN-Print: 978-1-6669-3203-4
ISBN-Online: 978-1-6669-3204-1
Publisher: Lexington, Lanham
Language: English
Pages: 292
Product type: Edited Book

1. Contents No access
2. List of Figures No access
3. List of Tables No access
1. Note No access
1. 1. Introduction No access
  2. Challenges Facing State Governments Leading into the 2020s No access
  3. Policy Recommendations for State Debt and Liabilities No access
  4. Recommendations for State Bonds No access
  5. Recommendations for OPEB Management No access
  6. Recommendations for Infrastructure Needs No access
  7. References No access
2. 1. Introduction No access
  2. Overview of Historical Government Debt in the United States No access
  3. State Debt Defaults in the 1840s No access
  4. Case Studies No access
  5. Repudiation of Civil War and Reconstruction Debts No access
  6. Case Studies No access
  7. Defaults during the Great Depression No access
  8. The Twentieth Century Defaults and Their Consequences No access
  9. Have State and Local Governments Changed Their Borrowing Habits? No access
  10. Note No access
  11. References No access
3. 1. Introduction No access
  2. Public Pensions Structure: Defined Benefit Plans No access
  3. Changes in Pension Reporting with GASB 67 and 68 No access
  4. Unfunded Liabilities: A Nearly $5 Trillion Problem No access
  5. Case Studies for Reform: Maine, Michigan, Tennessee, and Wisconsin No access
  6. Notes No access
4. 1. What Makes a State Fiscal Healthy? No access
  2. The Intuition behind BSFs No access
  3. The “Optimal” Size of BSFs No access
  4. BSFs and Fiscal Health No access
  5. Rules and Structure Matter No access
  6. Next Steps No access
  7. Notes No access
  8. References No access
5. 1. Introduction No access
  2. Debt Solvency and Sustainability No access
  3. Debt Fatigue in the States No access
  4. Designing a Debt Brake to Solve the State Debt Crisis No access
  5. Dynamic Simulation of the Debt Brake No access
  6. Even a Fiscally Conservative State Such as Florida Needs a Debt Brake No access
  7. Colorado: A Red State Captured by Rent Seekers No access
  8. Illinois: A Half Century of Debt Fatigue No access
  9. Conclusion No access
  10. Notes No access
  11. References No access
  12. Appendix: Variable Definitions, Parameters, and Equations for the State Calculator No access
  13. Equations No access
1. 1. Introduction No access
  2. Previous Literature No access
  3. Distribution of Revenue Shortfalls and Savings Rates No access
  4. Results No access
  5. Conclusion No access
  6. Notes No access
  7. References No access
2. 1. Introduction No access
  2. The Rise of Favoritism in the United States No access
  3. Anti-Aid Clauses No access
  4. Anti-Aid Provisions Applied to Localities No access
  5. The Weakening of Anti-Aid Provisions No access
  6. The Current State of Anti-Aid Provisions No access
  7. Conclusion No access
  8. Notes No access
3. 1. Introduction: State Governments—Squeezed from All Sides No access
  2. Governments and the Grants Economy: Give-and-Take through Love, Fear, and Ignorance No access
  3. Conclusion: Creating Greater Value in Governance No access
  4. Notes No access
4. 1. Introduction No access
  2. Background on ZBB No access
  3. Zero-Based Regulation No access
  4. ZBR in Idaho No access
  5. Potential Concerns about ZBR No access
  6. Conclusion No access
  7. Notes No access
1. 1. Introduction No access
  2. The Squeeze Defined No access
  3. Nebraska: Spillover Effects and Inequality—The Shift from Local to State No access
  4. Federal to State: The Second Part of the Squeeze No access
  5. Conclusion No access
  6. Notes No access
  7. References No access
2. 1. Introduction No access
  2. Growth in Federal Aid No access
  3. Aid Causes Excessive Spending No access
  4. Aid Distorts Spending Allocations No access
  5. Aid Generates Bureaucracy No access
  6. Aid Creates Waste and Abuse No access
  7. Aid Buries the Nation in Regulations No access
  8. Aid Undermines Diversity No access
  9. Aid Reduces Freedom No access
  10. Aid Weakens Democracy No access
  11. Aid Destroys Accountability No access
  12. Aid Crowds Out State and Private Activities No access
  13. States Need Large Rainy-Day Funds No access
  14. States Should Adopt Stable Tax Bases No access
  15. Conclusion No access
  16. Notes No access
3. 1. Introduction No access
  2. Reverse Revenue Sharing No access
  3. More Fiscal Responsibility at the Federal Level No access
  4. Providing Better State Services at Lower Costs No access
  5. Would Reverse Revenue Sharing Starve Government? No access
  6. Conclusion No access
  7. Notes No access
  8. References No access
4. 1. Introduction No access
  2. Facts about Florida’s Fiscal Conservatism No access
  3. Major Budget Priorities No access
  4. State Government Pension Liability No access
  5. Florida’s Sales Tax No access
  6. Florida’s Intangible Property Tax No access
  7. Party Politics and the State Budget No access
  8. Factors Supporting Fiscal Conservatism No access
  9. Term Limits and Political Organization No access
  10. Land Use Policy in Florida No access
  11. Conclusion No access
  12. Notes No access
  13. References No access
Index No access Pages 283 - 286
About the Editors No access Pages 287 - 288
About the Contributors No access Pages 289 - 292