Fiscal & Economic Policy
Policymakers at all levels of government have many difficult choices to make as rising health care, education, and infrastructure costs place pressures on annual budgets and outpace revenue growth. Pew helps legislators and public officials confront these challenges by sharing information and highlighting best practices that help governments achieve both short-term and long-term financial health and make smart investments in programs that provide the strongest returns. Pew also seeks to increase state fiscal accountability, responsibility, and transparency by providing independent and unbiased information to policymakers, stakeholders, and the public, as well as help explain the complex ways that federal and state fiscal policy interact.
All
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Illinois Moves Toward Evidence-based Rainy Day Fund
Illinois will perform a tax revenue volatility study that will inform development of an evidence-based rainy day fund policy for the state. Read More
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USPS Inspector General David Williams Discusses Proposal for Financial Services at the Post Office
USPS Inspector General David Williams Discusses Proposal for Financial Services at the Post Office Read More
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Building State Rainy Day Funds: Policies to Harness Revenue Volatility, Stabilize Budgets, and Strengthen Reserves
This report will help policymakers prepare for the next economic downturn by explaining the ways states can design their rainy day funds to harness fluctuations in revenue. Read More
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Pew: States Can Strengthen Reserves by Linking Savings to Volatility
A report released today by The Pew Charitable Trusts illustrates how states can save enough during economic boom years to better weather future recessions. Read More
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States Could Have Captured More Growth as Savings During the 2000s
States could have built a larger financial cushion during the economic expansion of the 2000s by linking budget stabilization fund deposits to volatility. Read More
Research & Analysis
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Illinois Moves Toward Evidence-based Rainy Day Fund
Illinois will perform a tax revenue volatility study that will inform development of an evidence-based rainy day fund policy for the state. Read More
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Building State Rainy Day Funds: Policies to Harness Revenue Volatility, Stabilize Budgets, and Strengthen Reserves
This report will help policymakers prepare for the next economic downturn by explaining the ways states can design their rainy day funds to harness fluctuations in revenue. Read More
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Tax Revenue Grows, but Full Recovery Eludes 26 States
Nationally, total state tax revenue has recovered from its plunge during the Great Recession, thanks to factors such as North Dakota’s oil boom and tax increases in Illinois, California, and elsewhere. But the recovery is uneven. Read More
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Trends in Federal Grants Vary Between Health and NonHealth Programs
Total federal grants to states are 18 percent above pre-recession levels for federal fiscal year 2014, after adjusting for inflation. (See "Federal Grants to States Up Since 2008.") The increase since fiscal 2008 was driven almost entirely by growth in Medicaid and other health programs, such as the Children's Health Insurance Program. Medicaid is by far the largest grant to states. (See... Read More
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Strategies for Evaluating Tax Incentives
A growing number of states are recognizing the importance of evaluating their economic development tax incentives. For example, lawmakers in Indiana, Mississippi, and Rhode Island have recently enacted legislation to ensure their states take three key steps to regularly review and analyze these programs. Read More
News
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Pew: States Can Strengthen Reserves by Linking Savings to Volatility
A report released today by The Pew Charitable Trusts illustrates how states can save enough during economic boom years to better weather future recessions. Read More
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The Business Incentives Initiative
Accurate data on the performance of economic development incentive programs could greatly improve decision-makers’ ability to craft policies that deliver the strongest results at the lowest possible cost. Read More
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States Can Better Manage Revenue Volatility Through Redesigned Reserve Policies and Improved Forecast Timing
A new study by The Pew Charitable Trusts, Managing Uncertainty: How State Budgeting Can Smooth Revenue Volatility, offers several promising solutions to help policymakers navigate the ups and downs of state revenue collections. This variation leads to state budget shortfalls and surpluses and makes it harder for states to accurately forecast revenue and balance their budgets. Read More
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Will States Be Ready for the Next Recession?
State lawmakers across the country are gaveling open their 2014 legislative sessions, and their top priority is how much to spend, cut, save, and tax. These are perennial questions, but the answers vary from year to year as the economy changes. California is a good example of change. Its lawmakers are facing their latest fiscal challenge, and it's an unexpected one: a budget surplus. The story... Read More
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Pew's New Fiscal 50 Online Tool Illustrates State Comparative Trends
The Pew Charitable Trusts' new online data resource, Fiscal 50: State Trends and Analysis, points to improving finances for most states more than four years after the Great Recession officially ended in June 2009, but reveals that many states have yet to return to prerecession levels on several key measures of fiscal health. Data showcased in the Fiscal 50 interactive confirms that the recovery... Read More
Multimedia
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USPS Inspector General David Williams Discusses Proposal for Financial Services at the Post Office
USPS Inspector General David Williams Discusses Proposal for Financial Services at the Post Office Read More
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States Could Have Captured More Growth as Savings During the 2000s
States could have built a larger financial cushion during the economic expansion of the 2000s by linking budget stabilization fund deposits to volatility. Read More
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Fiscal 50: State Trends and Analysis
Fiscal 50: State Trends and Analysis, an interactive resource from The Pew Charitable Trusts, allows you to sort and analyze data on key fiscal, economic, and demographic trends in the 50 states and understand their impact on states’ fiscal health. Read More
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Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew on Financial Reform After the Great Recession
U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew outlined financial reforms developed after the Great Recession in a policy address held at The Pew Charitable Trusts. Read More
