Budget Blog

Federal Spending Bill Includes Increased Funding for Many Governors’ Priorities On March 23, President Trump signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018 ( P.L. 115-141 ). The $1.3 trillion bill increases spending by $80 billion for defense and $63 billion for non-defense discretionary programs. Many programs that received increased funding under the new federal spending bill, or omnibus, are similar to ones that governors have focused on this year in their State of the State speeches and fiscal 2019 budget proposals . Governors have called for more state spending and proposed new initiatives ... More

Recently, NASBO released state-by-state summaries of governors’ budget proposals for fiscal 2019, which reveal much information about state fiscal conditions, spending trends, and gubernatorial priorities. Reviewing executive budget recommendations this session can also provide valuable insights into how states are increasing their use of performance information, evidence and data analytics in funding, management and policy decisions. Governors’ budget proposals this session called for investments in evidence-based programs and evaluation, as well as performance-based budgeting and funding initiatives. Executive ... More

On March 29-30, NASBO held our 2018 Spring Meeting in Arizona. The conference focused on federal issues affecting states as well as timely state finance topics. Below are presentations made by the conference speakers. NASBO members can access additional presentations and materials from state participants in the NASBO Member Community . FEDERAL BUDGET UPDATE Trinity Tomsic , Deputy Director, Federal Funds Information for States UPDATE ON STATE PENSION ISSUES Jean-Pierre Aubry , Director of State and Local Research, Center for Retirement Research at Boston College STATE GOVERNMENT DEBT OUTLOOK, ... More

Over the course of the past several months, governors in 34 states have released their fiscal 2019 budget proposals. Sixteen states enacted a biennial budget last year covering both fiscal 2018 and fiscal 2019, although governors in five of these states have proposed a supplemental budget to adjust spending by some extent. Read summaries of governors’ budget proposals and access links for further information. More

State of the State speeches this year have reflected a more stable fiscal and political environment for states. Unlike last year when the majority of states were seeing revenues come in below projections, most states this year have experienced modest growth in tax collections. Additionally, last year states were facing a high level of federal uncertainty that has now lessened with the two-year spending deal that increases spending caps for both defense and non-defense discretionary spending, and no repeal of the Affordable Care Act. While Congress did pass a tax reform bill that the President signed, the impact to ... More