Budget Blog

States are reporting higher than expected income tax revenues in the month of April . The significantly higher April income tax revenues, for the most part, are making up for the substantially lower income tax revenues collected in December and January. Through November, year-to-date income tax revenue growth was 6.7 percent. Through January, year-to-date growth had declined to 0.6 percent. Following April’s strong collections, it now appears that year-to-date growth is returning to November levels. State Income Tax Revenue Growth in Fiscal Year 2018 and Early Fiscal Year 2019 Personal income tax receipts ... More

Overview Over the past several years, the number of states legalizing marijuana has quickly grown across the United States. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), a total of 34 states and the District of Columbia have established medical marijuana programs, while 10 states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana for recreational use. Some issues that states face when legalizing marijuana include determining the appropriate level of taxation, forecasting marijuana revenue, the budgetary impact, establishing a regulatory framework, and contending with banking issues ... More

The personal income tax is the single largest source of revenue to state governments, representing 46% of total state general fund revenue in fiscal 2018 according to NASBO’s State Expenditure Report . Forty-one states have a broad-based personal income tax. April is typically the month with the highest amount of personal income tax collections. Early indications are that many states experienced a positive “April surprise” this year, seeing strong growth in April income tax collections. The positive April surprise is likely due to several factors including continued growth in the economy, gains in non-withholding ... More

Last week, the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments concerning the administration’s plans to add a citizenship question to the 2020 United States Census. While the administration has argued that it has the discretion to add a citizenship question and that it will help lead to a more accurate count, many opponents of the move believe that it will lead to undercounting. The question of an accurate count is important to states since funding from a number of federal programs is based upon statistics derived from the U.S. Census. In a recent study, the George Washington Institute of Public Policy found ... More

This issue brief on governors’ fiscal 2020 budgets takes a broad look at how gubernatorial proposals reflect states’ increasing use of data and evidence to inform decision-making, focusing on several key areas: • Reporting Performance Measures • Managing and Budgeting for Performance • Using Data Analytics • Investing in Evidence-Based Programs • Funding Program Evaluation • Implementing Statewide Initiatives • Building Staff Capacity The state examples provided are meant to be illustrative but not exhaustive. More