Fiscal & Economic Policy

Findings from a national survey of small and midsize businesses suggest that many employers need to reach a point of stability—in terms of finances and number of workers—before offering retirement benefits. Read More

Taxes make up about half of state government revenue, with the bulk coming from levies on personal income and general sales of goods and services. Broad-based personal income taxes are the greatest source of tax dollars in 28 of the 41 states that impose them, with the highest share—69.6 percent—in Oregon. General sales taxes are the largest source in 17 of the 45... Read More

Yearly swings in tax revenue can confound policymakers’ best efforts to balance state budgets. These fluctuations vary greatly across the 50 states. Over the past two decades, Alaska has faced by far the greatest volatility in total tax revenue, while South Dakota has experienced the least, not counting revenue swings caused by tax policy changes. Read More

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

Pew’s Fiscal 50: State Trends and Analysis presents 50-state data on key fiscal, economic, and demographic indicators and analyzes their impact on states’ long-term fiscal health. Drill down into state finances in five core areas. Read More

Findings from a national survey of small and midsize businesses suggest that many employers need to reach a point of stability—in terms of finances and number of workers—before offering retirement benefits. Read More

Yearly swings in tax revenue can confound policymakers’ best efforts to balance state budgets. These fluctuations vary greatly across the 50 states. Over the past two decades, Alaska has faced by far the greatest volatility in total tax revenue, while South Dakota has experienced the least, not counting revenue swings caused by tax policy changes. Read More

Pew’s Fiscal 50: State Trends and Analysis presents 50-state data on key fiscal, economic, and demographic indicators and analyzes their impact on states’ long-term fiscal health. Drill down into state finances in five core areas. Read More

Governor John Bel Edwards (D) signed a broadly bipartisan package of 10 bills June 15 that aims to reduce crime and incarceration by steering less serious offenders away from prison, strengthening alternatives to imprisonment, and clearing away barriers to success during re-entry. With these changes in sentencing and corrections laws, Louisiana is likely to shed its title of the most incarcerated... Read More

When crafting their approaches, it is useful for states to understand why some employers offer plans and others do not. In 2016, The Pew Charitable Trusts conducted a survey of owners, top executives, and human resource managers at more than 1,600 private sector, small and midsize businesses nationwide. One focus of the survey was to identify the obstacles to, and motivations for, offering... Read More

To minimize the need for uncomfortable choices between raising taxes or cutting spending, 48 states have created budget stabilization funds—rainy day funds—that take advantage of boom times by directing surplus revenue into savings that can offset future shortfalls. However, many of these funds lack rules to effectively smooth the ups and downs in revenue. Designing a robust fund, and... Read More

While 27 states conduct debt affordability studies, only nine produce studies with all the necessary elements to give policymakers a clear understanding of their state’s debt levels, according to a report released today by The Pew Charitable Trusts. Read More

WASHINGTON--More than half of U.S. states have processes to regularly evaluate their economic development tax incentives, according to a new report from The Pew Charitable Trusts. How States are Improving Tax Incentives for Jobs and Growth: A national assessment of evaluation practices examines the progress that the 50 states and the District of Columbia have made to produce high-quality... Read More

Many states struggle with when and how to make withdrawals from their rainy day funds, a situation that can lead to poorly timed use of these reserve accounts, according to a report by The Pew Charitable Trusts. Read More

WASHINGTON—A new report by The Pew Charitable Trusts examining investments by the 73 largest state public pension funds finds that a shift to more complex investments has significantly increased fees, volatility, and potential losses. The analysis also estimates that $4 billion in investment fees are unreported each year. Read More

Taxes make up about half of state government revenue, with the bulk coming from levies on personal income and general sales of goods and services. Broad-based personal income taxes are the greatest source of tax dollars in 28 of the 41 states that impose them, with the highest share—69.6 percent—in Oregon. General sales taxes are the largest source in 17 of the 45... Read More

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

In this animated video, learn about the Results First Initiative, which, since 2011, has partnered with states and counties across the country to help them incorporate the use of evidence in their budgeting and policymaking processes—helping to improve outcomes and make the most of limited resources. Read More

Download the data (XLS)Download the infographic (PDF) Read More

All dollar figures in millions. Parentheses indicate negative value. States attain positive amortization if they contribute more than 100 percent of the amortizationbenchmark. Data in 2014 reflect reporting under new accounting standards. Pension debt represents the net pension liability under the new GASB rules. The value ofplan assets is reported as net plan position. The funded ratio data for... Read More