Fiscal and Economic Policy
Budget Deal, Improving Economy Could Buoy State Budgets Though Risks Remain
© Getty Images Senate chambers in Minneapolis. Stephen C. Fehr, a senior officer at The Pew Charitable Trusts, researches and analyzes the fiscal health of states and localities As governors begin preparing their budget proposals for the coming fiscal year, the federal budget deal and growth in the U.S. economy may provide an extra boost […]
New Rules Will Improve Understanding of Costs, Benefits of Business Tax Incentives
© Getty Images A view of the Grandstand at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens, New York on June 10, 2015. Anita Sharma, a manager at The Pew Charitable Trusts, researches and analyzes the fiscal health of America’s largest cities. Kate Davidoff, a senior associate at The Pew Charitable Trusts, researches […]
Evidence Trumps Anecdote for “Scared Straight” Programs
© Getty Images The Fairfax County Juvenile Detention Center School in Fairfax, VA. Gary VanLandingham directs the Pew-MacArthur Results First Initiative Darcy White is a senior associate with the Pew-MacArthur Results First Initiative The documentary Scared Straight! was a hit in 1978. The film, in which at-risk youth were exposed to the realities of prison […]
Detroit Seeks to Rebound from Bankruptcy
© Getty Images/Bloomberg A worker smoothes wet concrete during construction on a section of the M-1 Rail line in Detroit on August 11, 2015. Stephen C. Fehr, a senior officer at The Pew Charitable Trusts, researches and analyzes the fiscal health of states and localities Kate Davidoff, a senior associate at The Pew Charitable Trusts, […]
What States Have at Stake in Federal Tax Reform Proposals
© Getty Images The Internal Revenue Service building in Washington, D.C. Anne Stauffer, a director at The Pew Charitable Trusts, leads Pew’s research on fiscal federalism. Mark Robyn, a senior associate at The Pew Charitable Trusts, researches and analyzes fiscal federalism. The tax proposals the U.S. presidential candidates have unveiled so far differ in their priorities and […]
Wyoming Lawmakers Consider How to Use Rainy Day Fund
Stephen C. Fehr, a senior officer at The Pew Charitable Trusts, researches and analyzes the fiscal health of states and localities. Jonathan Moody, a senior associate at The Pew Charitable Trusts, researches and analyzes the fiscal health of states. Wyoming will mark its 125th birthday this year in a better position than most states: Its […]
Where States Get Their Money, FY 2013
© AP South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard, a Republican, is proposing a multi-year increase in the state’s gasoline tax to pay for road and bridge repair in the state. South Dakota is one of four states that gets more of its revenue from the federal government than from its own taxes. These data have been […]
New Data Show Slowdown in State and Local Government Health Spending
iStock Maria Schiff, a director at The Pew Charitable Trusts, researches and analyzes state health care spending. Matt McKillop, an officer at The Pew Charitable Trusts, researches and analyzes the fiscal health of states. For the first time in several years, state and local government health care spending grew relatively slowly in 2013—increasing by 3.2 […]
Atlantic City Takeover Shows New Jersey’s Resolve to Help Its Troubled Cities
Stephen C. Fehr, a senior officer at The Pew Charitable Trusts, researches and analyzes the fiscal health of states and localities. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s appointment of an emergency manager to oversee financially distressed Atlantic City is among numerous state efforts to intervene in troubled communities to help them recover. Christie last week named […]
Best of #StateReads: United States of Subsidies
This week’s collection of #StateReads highlights the size and questionable effectiveness of tax breaks that states and local governments give to companies; explores the shortcomings in Arizona’s policies for sex offenders; and explains why more than half of Florida high school graduates are not ready for college-level courses. These examples of extraordinary journalism about state […]
In Fiscal Cliff Talks, Governors Get White House Seat
President Barack Obama, flanked by National Governors Association (NGA) Chairman, Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, and NGA Vice Chair, Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, meets with the NGA executive committee regarding the fiscal cliff Tuesday in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is at right. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak) A bipartisan […]
Costly Prison Phone Calls Frustrate Families
(AP) Espinola Quinn’s children haven’t spoken to their father in more than two months. He is in prison in Louisiana, and an inmate phone account costs upwards of $25 to set up and then must be reloaded regularly. Individual calls from a Louisiana prison or jail cost about 30 cents a minute, too much for the family […]