State Fiscal Policy

State Fiscal Policy: News

News

TABOR: A Losing Proposition for Colorado 11/29/2005
Earlier this month, voters in Colorado demonstrated their dissatisfaction with the state's constitutional spending limit law — otherwise known as TABOR--by voting in favor of suspending its spending limits for five years. TABOR, the "taxpayer's bill of rights," had contributed to a significant decline in the state's public services since its enactment in 1992. Unfortunately, this victory in Colorado has come after years of disastrous tax and spending practices eroded state services, harming Colorado's education system, health care programs, and transportation infrastructure. Read More

Minnesota Experiences Unprecedented Government Shutdown Due to Budget Deadlock 07/11/2005
A budget deadlock in the Minnesota state legislature led to a partial shutdown of the state government, temporarily leaving thousands jobless and halting many important public services. This government shutdown, unprecedented in Minnesota, could have been avoided had the legislature passed a simple stopgap spending bill to fund the government at previous levels until a new budget could be worked out. Read More

Update: More States Consider 'Taxpayer's Bill of Rights' 05/16/2005
In 1992, Colorado passed a constitutional amendment instituting a "taxpayer's bill of rights" (TABOR) in order to make it more difficult for the state to increase taxes during the good times and spend during the bad times. Although Colorado's TABOR law has resulted in a structural cycle of drastic disinvestment in public services, many other states have either considered enacting tax and expenditure limiting legislation (TELS) in 2005 or will likely consider it in 2006. Read More

Despite Colorado's Disaster, More States Consider Restrictive Budget Rules 04/04/2005
In 1992, the Colorado legislature passed a constitutional amendment locking in restrictive budget and tax provisions. This amendment, known as the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR), has resulted in a structural cycle of drastic disinvestment in public services across the state. This result is not unique to Colorado and if TABOR amendments are adopted in other states -- as could happen in 18 states across the country -- the effect would no doubt be similar. Read More

Federal Spending Cuts, Caps to Hurt States Facing Own Deficits 03/07/2005
This week, the House and Senate budget committees are scheduled to mark up their budget resolutions, and spending caps proposed for the next five years, would hurt many states. President Bush sees these budget spending caps as key to reducing the deficit and overall spending by the federal government — but they will do little to reduce the deficit. Read More

New OMB Watch Report Views Budget from Nonprofit Perspective 02/11/2005
The President’s budget that was released on Feb. 7 is not just austere; it is also frighteningly bleak for nonprofit groups and the people and causes they serve. The President has manufactured a fiscal crisis with massive tax cuts, mainly targeted to the wealthy, that has resulted in federal revenues being reduced to the lowest levels since the 1950s as a percentage of our economy. Cutting revenue to that level means there is drastically less money to fund programs that address community and human need problems, a core function of many nonprofits.

The Bush FY 2006 Budget from a Nonprofit Perspective (.pdf)

State Budget Crises Begin to Result in Actual Cuts 01/24/2005
While much has been written recently about the federal budget deficit, states across the country are continuing to struggle under budget crises of their own. Most states are required by law to balance their budgets. While the federal government often carries large deficits to finance its programs and priorities even when revenues are not sufficient, this is usually not an option for state legislatures. Often, the resulting deficit financed federal policies are responsible for making state fiscal situations worse. Read More

Election Day Ballot Initiatives Could Affect State and Local Tax Policy 11/02/2004
Citizens across the country have been gearing up for this election week for an untold number of months. And while much of the attention has been focused on the too-close-to-call presidential election and the key House and Senate races, when voters hit the polls on Nov. 2 they will also be deciding on a number of different ballot initiatives that potentially could have significant impacts on state and local tax policy. Read More

California Nonprofits Caught in Revenue Squeeze 07/26/2004
The California Association of Nonprofits (CAN) recently completed a study of the impact on nonprofits of funding cutbacks in California. In the report "Holes in the Safety-net: Study of Funding Cutbacks and Safety-net Nonprofits in California," CAN found that a wide range of nonprofits in the state are squeezed between revenue reductions and increased demand for services. Read More

States Struggle to Fund Medicaid 08/11/2003

Health care for low-income and disabled people is being slashed as states face their third consecutive year of fiscal crisis. In 2003, almost every state legislature cut benefits, eligibility, or payments to health care providers, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. In March of 2003, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimated that based on proposed or recently enacted legislation, 1.7 million people would lose coverage, and many others will lose various health benefits such as prescription drugs, dental, vision, and home health care even though they remain insured.
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