Truth in Accounting has once again created a transparency score for the financial reporting by state governments to encourage the publication of transparent and accurate government financial information.
Now Available
Our annual report on state fiscal health. Debt among the states improved slightly. Going from $1.2 trillion down to $938.6 billion.
What happened?
How did your state do? Read the full report below.
https://www.truthinaccounting.org/news/detail/financial-state-of-the-states-2023
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This year's report found that 31 states did not have enough money to pay all of their bills.
Did you know that many cities, such as Chicago and Los Angeles, do not include the financial information of their school districts and other underlying entities in their financial reports and budgets? The result is taxpayers are on the hook for far more debt than they know. To provide a more complete picture of the 10 most populous U.S. cities including their largest underlying government units, Truth in Accounting has released its annual City Combined Taxpayer Burden report.
Editorial, includes “President Biden said recently that there’s no federal solution to Covid-19, but his Administration acts like it wants to impose one. It has launched civil-rights investigations of states that bar school mask mandates. It has also sought to withhold federal transportation funds from states that reform public pensions. Arizona is doing every state, and the cause of federalism, a service by challenging this bullying.”
To encourage the publication of transparent and accurate government financial information, Truth in Accounting has created a transparency score for financial reporting by the states.
PRESS RELEASE - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Truth in Accounting's twelfth annual Financial State of the States report, a nationwide analysis of the most recent state government financial information.
By TIA intern Joshua Terry, whose last day is today (Thanks for all the great hard work, Josh!) includes “… Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, and Texas have smaller Taxpayer Burdens compared to New York, California, and Illinois. There certainly may be other factors at play here, as Texas isn't too far off of New York or even California with its Taxpayer Burden.”
Earlier last month, the IRS released the 2019 migration data for adjusted gross income (AGI) that showed a departure in the billions of dollars of taxable income from New York, California, and Illinois. These three states experienced the most outflow of AGI in 2019, while Florida, Texas, and Arizona gained the most AGI. The IRS included a breakdown of this migration by age group:.
By Jordan Williams, includes “… The statement faulted the budgetary proposal for not reflecting Democratic input, and said it ‘retaliates against teachers and voters because of the 2020 presidential election.’ … The budget includes tax cuts that Democrats have said will help special interests. Democrats had also worried about the budget's effects on education and schools.”
AP story, includes “…But the Senate plowed ahead, working until 2:30 a.m. Wednesday to pass the 11 bills including the tax cut. Lawmakers also unveiled and approved a raft of policy changes that include a massive expansion of the state’s private school voucher program.”
By Griselda Zetino, includes “As state budget talks resume this week, a new survey shows Arizona teachers strongly oppose the proposed budget and feel it leaves money on the table that could otherwise go toward public schools. … Thomas added 89% of teachers are against the tax cuts proposed in the state budget. He said they feel it would drain billions from state revenue that could be used to cover various educational needs.”
By Bob Christie, includes “Advocates of using public money for private education are pushing a wide-ranging new school voucher program that would vastly expand Arizona’s current system just two years after state voters overwhelmingly rejected a universal voucher system. ”
Tucson, Arizona, plans to leverage low interest rates in a bull market to turn about half of its unfunded public safety pension fund obligations into bond obligations.
Much of the dust has settled from the 2020 election, but in Arizona one legal battle is just beginning. It’s a fight over the largest tax increase in the state’s history, and it’s a cautionary tale for the rest of the country—or at least for those who care about protecting their states from an onslaught of job-killing progressive policies.
Four years after the Arizona Public Safety Retirement System (PSPRS) adopted major stakeholder-driven reforms to stem a precipitous increase in unfunded pension liabilities resulting from faulty plan design, the system now appears to be on a sustainable financial trajectory, according to a new stress test analysis prepared by the Pension Integrity Project at Reason Foundation.
The 2020 Financial State of the States report surveys the fiscal health of the 50 states prior to the coronavirus pandemic. This data is released today by Truth in Accounting (TIA), a think tank that analyzes government financial reporting.
How large could the shortfall in state government general revenues be, amidst the coronavirus and related crises?