State TANF Spending: Predictors of State Tax Effort to Support Welfare Reform

State spending on Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) greatly varies. Combined federal and state spending by the states per TANF family or recipient reflects the historic level of state generosity for Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), the failure of the federal government to set any minimum spending standard for the states, and the failure of the federal government to adjust federal grants for huge changes in state TANF caseloads. Our multivariate analysis shows that state spending for TANF is greatly influenced by the percentage of the state population that is black, the percentage of the state population that is on TANF (especially if a significant percentage of the rolls consist of black recipients), and the economic conditions within the state. Some states spend as much as their economies will allow, while other states spend far below capacity. Despite the very different goals of TANF, state spending is still heavily influenced by their historic approach to AFDC.     

Changing State Fiscal Capacity and Tax Effort in an Era of Devolving Government, 1981 2003

The American system of fiscal federalism requires that stateand local governments finance the bulk of their budgets fromown-source revenues, not transfers. This article analyzes statetotal taxable resources from 1981 to 2003 to evaluate how statefiscal capacity has changed in that time and how it has beenaffected by national recessions, to examine the extent to whichfiscal capacity differs among states and whether capacity hasconverged, and to consider whether states have responded toservice demands by changing tax effort and whether tax efforthas converged in the face of interstate competition and otherharmonizing forces. Because the capacity measure employed herecan be compared across years, something impossible with majoralternative indices, the analysis provides insights importantto the analysis of fiscal federalism and of the implicationsof revenue devolution not previously possible.     

The Impact of the Tax Revolt Era State Fiscal Caps: A Research Update

Fiscal caps, the most common form of fiscal limit adopted during the tax revolt era, are again on the agendas of state government. In this article, we evaluate the claims made by cap supporters and opponents by examining the impacts of caps adopted during the tax revolt. Updating Lowery and Cox's (1990) analysis of the impact of state fiscal caps through 1991 using a comparative state, interrupted time-series design, we find some evidence—albeit very weak—that fiscal caps may have modestly reduced the size of government and no evidence that they have been evaded through budget end-runs.     

The Role of Budget and Financial Reform in Making Government Work Better and Cost Less

Budgeting and Financial Management play a crucial role in organizing and disciplining the federal management culture. Consequently, addressing improvements in their practice is essential in the National Performance Review's examination of government-wide management systems. This article briefly describes the recommendations and anticipated implementing actions relating to budgeting and financial management within the context of the National Performance Review's themes of cutting red tape, putting customers first, empowering employees to get results, and cutting back to basics. External factors, such as innovations in private sector management practices, rapid changes in information technology, and statutory reforms such as the Government Performance and Results Act, also influence needed changes in budgetary and financial management practices.     

State and federal tax equity: Estimates before and after the Tax Reform Act of 1986

The progressivity and equity of both state and federal individual income taxes, as well as the combined system of both taxes, are examined before and after the federal Tax Reform Act of 1986 using a variety of measures applied to federal Statistics of Income individual income tax data; state taxes are calculated using TAXSIM. Our findings are as follows: First, in both 1985 and 1987, state personal income taxes were generally less progressive and more horizontally equitable than the federal system. Second, in moving from 1985 to 1987, state personal income tax systems generally displayed decreased progressivity and horizontal inequity. The combination of the two systems displayed generally lower progressivity and horizontal equity scores when we compare 1987 to 1985. Last, the after-tax income distribution became more unequal when we compared 1987 to 1985.     

The Tax Reform Agenda in Australia

This paper applies concepts developed in the Policy Agendas Project (PAP) literature to an analysis of Australian tax policy over the post war period. It argues that a major turning point in the Australian tax policy agenda occurred during the second term of the Hawke Government (1984‐87). Beyond this turning point, and despite the fierce partisan conflict concerning tax policy over the past two decades, there has been remarkaly little difference between Australia's two major parties at the level of substantive policy content. The Australian tax policy agenda over the post war period can be characterised by remarkable policy continuity punctuated by a period of change in the mid 1980s when structural change in the international political economy precipitated unprecedented domestic liberalisation.     

Constitutional Dimensions of State and Local Tax Deductibility

President Reagan's proposal to eliminate the deduction of stateand local taxes for the purpose of assessing federal incometaxes will vastly enlarge the scope of the federal government,unduly burden state and local governments, and greatly harmthe federal system. The essence of the federal idea is thatthere are arenas of government that must not be invaded by othergovernments. Yet the Treasury Department would have us believethat the most fundamental activities of state and local governmentsare in some significant sense paid for by the federal governmentthrough "subsidies" provided by the federal tax code.     

改革深圳机关事业单位现行工资制度的几点构想

党的十五大报告指出,“收入分配要坚持效率优先、兼顾公平”,这样才“有利于优化资源配置,促进经济发展,保证社会稳定”。如何对工资分配制度进行改革,使公平与效率都得到最大限度的实现,是推动社会主义市场经济体制改革进一步深化和完善的重要环节。深圳经济特区作为我国改革开放的排头兵,如何在其较为发达的市场经济基础上,建立起一套符合其经济发展水平的机关事业单位的工资制度,已经成为深圳市21世纪吸引人才,建立人才高地的重要课题。     

State Government Expenditure Determinants and Tax Revenue Determinants Revisited

The primary aim of the research was to test the general hypothesis that many institutional and political variables affect fiscal outcomes; that the preferences of public officials, and the decision processes used to act on those preferences, matter. State government data (state only, not state and local) from 1980, 1985, and 1990 were used to specify state tax revenue and expenditure models. A previous (Merrifield, 1991) state tax revenue model identified many significant institutional and political variables, but it was based only on 1985 data (49 observations). The larger data set (147 observations), including better data for some of the variables, indicated that most of Merrifield's (1991) findings are robust. The state expenditure models facilitated a second test of the general institutional and political variable hypothesis, as well as the hypotheses about specific variables. The expenditure model also facilitated comparisons of expenditure and tax determinants, and comparisons with results published in the literature. Though there are some noteworthy differences between the expenditure and tax models, the expenditure models also supported many of the institutional and political variable hypotheses.     

坚持三个结合 做好新时期农村思想政治工作

党的十七届五中全会和中央经济会议把推进农业现代化作为十二五时期的一项重大任务,把解决好农业、农村、农民问题作为全党工作的重中之重。做好新时期农村思想政治工作也是解决好三农工作重要任务之一,思想政治工作,是我们党的优良传统。在新时期要使思想政治工作适应新形势、新任务的要求,必须在继承和发扬优良传统的基础上加以创新和改进,增强时代感,与时俱进。     

State Tax and Expenditure Limitations: There is No Story

Out of the troubled economic atmosphere of the late 1970's grew a discontent with government in general and taxation in particular. The tax revolt took hold at the local level and placed limits on the growth of the property tax through celebrated citizen initiatives like Proposition 13 in California. At the national level, uneasiness with the role of government and a sense that taxation was too high culminated in 1980 with the election of Ronald Reagan. The electorate embraced promises of less government and lower taxes. For states, the tax revolt resulted in a number of state tax and expenditures limitations (TELS). Most had several things in common: they were adopted before 1983, they addressed state appropriations, and they were largely a western phenomenon spreading from California. The overall condition of state economies and structure of state tax systems, in combination with the sensitivity of policymakers to anti-tax sentiment, have done more to limit state spending than have imposed restrictions.     

The Impact of Tax Revenue from Capital Gains Realizations on State Income Tax Revenue and Budget Conditions

We explore the effect of the rapid increase in capital gains realizations on state income tax revenue during the 1990s and 2000s, and the effect that this had on state fiscal decisions regarding the use of these revenue. We find wide variation in the growth of capital gains realizations across states and that the growth in capital gains had a significant effect on state income tax revenue for many states. We find that states used a sizable portion of the additional revenue from capital gains to fund reserves in the year the revenue was generated, and that capital gains revenue lead to some reductions in taxes but not to increases in expenditures. The evidence suggests that states were conservative in their use of capital gains related revenues.