Budget Blog

NASBO staff have been reading through governors’ fiscal 2020 budget recommendations and summarizing some of their key elements through a series of issue briefs. This issue brief focuses on tax and revenue measures. Most of governors’ fiscal 2020 budget recommendations include some form of revenue increase or decrease proposals. The net revenue impacts for the bulk of them are minor. Only five states propose recurring revenue changes exceeding two percent of general revenues. The three most common tax changes advanced in governors’ budget proposals are: excluding retirement income, taxing electronic cigarettes, ... More

As of March 6, all but two states have released their budget recommendations for fiscal 2020. Corrections is one of the larger areas of state spending and is unusual in that most of its funding is derived from the general fund, unlike other program areas like Medicaid or higher education, which receive significant federal funding or other state funding. According to NASBO’s 2018 State Expenditure Report, corrections spending comprised 6.8 percent of total general fund expenditures, while deriving 89.2 percent of its funding from general funds. This issue brief highlights some of the key themes in this program area ... More

Governors in 44 states have released their budget recommendations for fiscal 2020 as of March 4.  With most states experiencing strong revenue growth in fiscal 2018 and early fiscal 2019, services in health and human services often saw modest increases. States organize their health and human services in a variety of ways in their state budgets and the issues highlighted span a range of agencies and funding sources. Health and human services often comprise the most significant share of state spending after education and include many programs that rely in part on federal funding, such as Medicaid. This issue brief ... More

As of February 18, 2019, governors in 36 states have released their budget recommendations for fiscal 2020.  Most states saw strong revenue growth in fiscal 2018 and early fiscal 2019, resulting in more “new money” to spend on key priorities. In their budget proposals for fiscal 2020, governors are choosing to direct a significant portion of these new resources into early education, K-12, higher education, and workforce development. This issue brief examines some of the most common areas of investment in education, based on governors’ budgets released to date. The state examples provided are meant to be illustrative ... More

One promising trend in state finances in recent years has been the strengthening of states’ rainy day funds or savings accounts. Maintaining adequate reserve levels helps states to mitigate disruptions to state services due to revenue shortfalls, during an economic downturn, and in response to emergencies and other unanticipated events. Improved revenue conditions in fiscal 2018 helped many states continue to bolster their reserves, with a number of states directing at least part of their unanticipated budget surpluses into their rainy day funds. According to NASBO’s Fall 2018 Fiscal Survey of States , 32 states ... More