Through direct democracy, California voters pass local and state initiative measures, assuming the role of the legislature and many times mandating how government should act or spend funds. But are voters really getting what they want through the initiative process? Initiatives known as...

This report examines Idaho state budgeting during 2009 and 2010. After first describing Idaho’s people, politics, and budgeting process, it discusses the economic and General Fund revenue situations facing the state. The paper considers adjustments for FY 2010 proposed by Governor Otter and...

This report examines how Utah’s budget is surviving the “Great Recession.” Was the crisis “wasted” or was it used and, if used, for whose benefit? The report considers criteria by which a state is judged to be fiscally responsible, particularly in a time of economic and fiscal stress. It...

The budget and taxes dominated Washington’s 2010 legislative agenda. The Democrat-led legislature had to close a $2.8 billion shortfall for the 2009-2011 biennium. Unable to resolve debate on a mixture of program cuts and revenue enhancements, the legislature concluded its 60-day regular...

Wyoming’s twenty-day biennial budget session convened on February 8th, 2010, and on March 5th, 2010, Governor Freudenthal signed into law a $2.9 billion state budget for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. According to the Casper Star Tribune, the “compromise budget sailed through both houses of the...

The Texas Legislature did not meet in 2010. The expenditure and revenue forecasts for the next biennium budget project a shortfall of $11 to $15 billion. The projected shortfall exceeds the $8 billion “rainy day” fund and will require hard decisions about reducing spending and making revenue...

At the end of a biennial session Oregon legislators realized their just approved, $15 billion two-year budget depended on very fragile and optimistic forecasts for the revenue needed to balance. If the economy didn’t improve, they faced a billion dollar plus shortfall. There was a glimmer of...

In his article on President Bush’s second term economic agenda, Professor Mankiw is vague and misleading with regard to the costs and benefits of partial privatization of social security reform. There are other, simpler ways to fix the problem of Social Security which Mankiw fails to mention....