Debt & Borrowing

 

Debt & Borrowing

States issue debt and maintain widely accepted debt policy standards to borrow money primarily for capital intensive infrastructure projects. Annual debt service expenditures represent a relatively small but important component of state budgets. Current municipal market trends suggest states will continue to have the sufficient financing necessary for large scale public works and improvement projects.

Staff Contact: Michael Streepey

NASBO Publications

  • The latest edition of NASBO’s State Expenditure Report finds that the recent improvement in the national economy has not translated to strong growth in total state spending. This is largely due to the fact that state revenues have not increased as fast as Recovery Act funds have declined, leading to a unique situation in which total state expenditure growth has slowed during the same time that the national economy has been improving.
  • State fiscal conditions in fiscal 2013 are modestly recovering in step with the slowly improving national economy. General fund spending levels are expected to increase by 2.2 percent this fiscal year, which is less than half their historical average growth rate. Signs of budget volatility have subsided compared to the years immediately following the recession, and fiscal conditions in most states reflect continued fiscal stability.
  • State fiscal conditions are continuing to improve into fiscal 2013, although many state budgets are not fully back to prerecession levels. This report finds that governors’ recommended budgets show an overall increase in both general fund expenditures and revenues in fiscal 2013. Fiscal trends indicate that while