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.
By John Bury, includes “Based on state pension data updated through December, 2021 there are 363,722 retirees getting annualized pensions of $12,395,368,150. … There are now 4,789 retirees getting over $100,000 annually. Of those 118 are getting pensions of over $150,000 annually …” (Followed by a long list of names, pension amounts, and their government employers.)
By Dustin Racioppi, includes “One retirement fund, for police and firefighters, had more people collecting pension benefits in 2019 than current workers, and two others were on a similar trajectory — meaning those funds are less able to handle investments risks, the analysis by the fiscally conservative think tank Garden State Initiative found. … ”
By Andrew Biggs, includes “… In 2001, the PERS plan had 2.7 active employees for each beneficiary; by 2019, the worker-to-beneficiary ratio had fallen to just 1.4 workers to 1 beneficiary. … New Jersey’s public plans cannot invest their way out of their unfunded liabilities. … in 2019 the median maximum potential employer contribution to the 401(k)-type accounts … ”
By Gregory Bresiger, includes “The state, the report concluded ‘remains in abysmal fiscal health and had no money set aside to weather the current or any future crisis.’ New Jersey officials claim the state has a balanced budget. ‘If this is true,’ Bergman asks, ‘then how is it the state has this massive debt problem?’ … Bergman contends rating agencies are compromised by relationships with states and cities. …”
Includes “Truth in Accounting published its annual “Financial State of the States 2021,” and the good news is that New Jersey broke its streak of six consecutive years as the most indebted state. The very bad news is that despite the gusher of federal COVID-relief money New Jersey ranked 49th, with an average debt burden of $58,300 per taxpayer. ”
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.
By Eric Boehm, includes “It is not hyperbole to say that Edward Durr, a 58-year-old truck driver from New Jersey, just pulled off one of the biggest political upsets in American history. With a bare-bones campaign that reportedly cost less than $6,000 (some earlier reports claimed that Durr spent just $153 on the race, but Durr later clarified that was not a full accounting) …”
By Thad Calabrese and Thomas Healey, includes “The state is expected to spend more than $46 billion in the current fiscal year—a 10 percent increase over last year. Helping to control the damage is $6 billion of one-time federal relief, as well as $4 billion of debt. But in return for this largesse, New Jersey is offering Washington little reassurance about fiscal stability.”
From the not necessarily an endorsement department, op-ed by Kevin Ryan, includes “… According to Truth in Accounting, New Jersey has accumulated $189.6 billion (as of September 2020) in debt. Ballpark best guess, we each owe $57,900 — and we have Trenton insiders to thank for this ever-escalating burden.”
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 Geoff Mulvihill, includes “The Pew Charitable Trust report credits a booming stock market over the past year as well as states’ longer-term steps, which include boosting taxpayer contributions to public pension funds and reducing promised retirement benefits, particularly to newly hired workers. … The health of public pension systems resonates beyond government employees.”
Op-ed by Richard Mroz, Norman Kennard and Brien Sheahan, includes “… Many local leaders around the country are determining that it is in the best interest of their ratepayers and constituents to redeploy municipal assets to more pressing needs..."
Includes “Atlantic County’s proposal to provide taxpayers with hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual savings through a shared services, countywide municipal court system is meeting resistance. ‘It appears many towns are more interested in maintaining status quo than attaining significant savings,’ stated County Executive Dennis Levinson. …”
By John Bury, includes “That is what the Murphy administration has to believe for them to send out this piece of gripka … treating $10.19 billion in Biden relief money as if it will never have to be repaid (one way or another). ”
Includes “…This marks the first time in more than 25 years that New Jersey is making the full Actuarially Determined Contribution to the Pension Fund, plus an additional $505 million contribution, and also the first time in years that the state has made a lump sum payment, rather than quarterly payments. The Treasurer also announced that by making the contribution in one lump sum, the State is now expected to save taxpayers roughly $2.2 billion over 30 years …”
Editorial, includes “New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy last spring was projecting a $10 billion budget shortfall due to the pandemic. Now the state boasts a $10 billion surplus. Perhaps politicians in Trenton can now fund the new Hudson River train tunnel project? Nope. They’ll leave most of that to Congress. … But Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday said the state ‘has other pressing infrastructure needs’ to fund. He means Medicaid, public-worker pensions and green-energy subsidies.”