The Impact of State Debt Management on Debt Activity

This article addresses the impact that state debt management has on the debt activity of a state debt program. A quantitative measure of state debt management is developed and used in analysis of state debt activity. The study finds that states with decentralized debt management issue more long-term debt as compared to states with other forms of debt management. The study also investigates the impact other institutional variables have on state debt activity and highlights the interaction effects of these variables with the institutional debt management variable. The study finds that the effects of previously tested variables such as the number of public authorities and constitutional debt limitations on debt activity are altered if the form of debt management is considered.     

An Approach to Measuring the Affordability of State Debt

Affordability is one important and widely accepted element of state and local debt policy. However, there is no well-established measure of affordability and no clear standard for making normative judgments about what amount of debt is affordable for a specific jurisdiction. This article suggests a six-step method for measuring affordability of state debt that provides a useful guideline for determining when a state may be entering a "danger zone" by having debt that exceeds norms of affordability.     

The Impact of Energy Asset Privatisation on State Government Debt Management and Service Provision in Victoria and New South Wales

The purpose of this article is to look at the impact of the privatisation of the electricity and gas industries in the state of Victoria on the level of state government debt and subsequent ability of the state to deliver public services in the areas of health, education and law and order. In order to undertake this, a comparison is made with the state of New South Wales (NSW), where the privatisation of the electricity industry was often debated during the 1990s and 2000s, but never undertaken.     

Military Policies and the State System as Impediments to Democracy

Military policies impose severe limits on democracy and call into question the viability of the liberal democratic state. Military mentality undermines democratic culture; the complexity of warfare defies public understanding; speed required in decision-making prevents public debate; secrecy misleads the public while often disguising executive abuse of power; vested interests in high military expenditure skew political processes; and concentration of power among a few obstructs democratic participation. Even state sovereignty, which military policies bolster, obstructs democracy because interdependence requires governments to be held accountable, through transnational law and institutions, to 'foreign' as well as 'domestic' citizens since both are affected by national decisions.     

State Debt Management Policy: A National Survey

The amount of outstanding, long-term, tax-exempt state debt has grown precipitously over the last decade, from $87 billion in 1977 to $264 billion in 1987. But there have been few attempts to carry out broad studies of basic state debt management policies, using comparative state data. As a result, policy-makers lack guidance as they attempt to adjust policies and procedures to meet the rapidly evolving requirements associated with public borrowing. This paper reports on a national survey of state debt manage ment policies - policies devoted to the planning, preparation, sale, and repayment of debt for which states consider themselves responsible.     

Gauging the Impact of Transparency Policies

To what extent do transparency policies generate positive impacts? This seemingly rhetorical question has become the subject of increasing contention, partly because of two research‐based biases. First, researchers have been blinded by metrics and method. Using tools that are often ill suited to gauging the gradual, diffuse, and indirect effects of most transparency policies, research has found—unsurprisingly—spotty evidence of impact. Transparency studies would benefit from greater use of complementary approaches, such as careful tracing of impact processes and indicators, combined with sensible counterfactual reasoning. Second, researchers have been looking for impact with blinkered vision. In particular, a thematic fixation on accountability and participation has monopolized attention. Key preconditions—such as compliance with and implementation of transparency policies—remain relatively neglected, as do other areas of potential impact, including capacity building, how actors are leveraging previously restricted streams of information, and transparency's role in improving policy coordination and communication.     

Corruption and State and Local Government Debt Expansion

Theories describing rent seeking in the public sector posit a number of negative fiscal outcomes that the choices of corrupt officials may generate. The evidence presented in this article shows that states with greater intensities of public corruption have higher aggregate levels of state and local debt. If corruption in the 10 most corrupt states were only at an average level, their public debt would be 9 percent lower, or about $249.35 per capita, all else being equal. Notably, institutional control measures may not have succeeded in restraining the expansion of state and local public debt in the presence of greater levels of corruption. State and local governments would achieve more efficient levels of fiscal discipline by curbing public sector corruption.     

The Impact of Parties and Elections on Municipal Debt Policy in Mexico

Opportunistic electoral fiscal policy cycle theory suggests that all subnational officials will raise fiscal spending during elections. Ideological partisan fiscal policy cycle theory suggests that only left‐leaning governments will raise election year fiscal spending, with right‐leaning parties choosing the reverse. This article assesses which of these competing logics applies to debt policy choices. Cross‐sectional time‐series analysis of yearly loan acquisition across Mexican municipalities—on statistically matched municipal subsamples to balance creditworthiness across left‐ and right‐leaning governments—shows that all parties engage in electoral policy cycles but not in the way originally thought. It also shows that different parties favored different types of loans, although not always according to partisan predictions. Both electoral and partisan logics thus shape debt policy decisions—in contrast to fiscal policy where these logics are mutually exclusive—because debt policy involves decisions on multiple dimensions, about the total and type of loans.     

Local Government Complexity: Consequences for County Property-Tax and Debt Policies

This article examines the consequences of local government complexityon county revenue decisions in fourteen Texas counties comprisingthe Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston metropolitan areas. Thereare significant differences in the configuration of local governmentsin the two areas traceable to when cities, school districts,and special districts were created. County revenue decisionsare also affected by the different configuration of governmentsin the two areas. These findings challenge the conventionalwisdom that states create local governments. Local choices areinstrumental in shaping local government complexity. What government-typesare chosen, and when, produce distinctive patterns of governancefrom one metropolitan area to the next, even in the same state.Consequently, reforms aimed at making the county the "localgovernment of the future" would require perhaps insurmountablechanges in state and local structures     

State Debt Limits: How Many Are Enough?

There is a growing concern among state policy makers that unrestrained debt may exceed politically acceptable or financially sustainable levels of debt. Many states have established limits to restrict debt, but many of these limits are circumvented through issuing more complex and specialized bonds. In this article, we focus on the use of debt limits as an instrument to manage a state's debt in context of two key questions: (1) under what circumstances should a state consider multiple debt limits and (2) if multiple limits are established, what factors should be considered in setting such multiple limits. In addressing these issues, we consider the theoretical and conceptual issues associated with setting debt limits, we highlight current state debt limit policies, and discuss factors that appear to be influencing decisions to establish and set multiple limits.     

State Environmental Policies: Analyzing Green Building Mandates

This research addresses state requirements that public facilities be constructed as “green buildings” that promote environmental friendly, energy efficient, and healthy workplaces. We consider state choices to adopt green building mandates and the form of their policy enactment. In considering the way that low salience issues like green buildings get on state agendas and the circumstances under which governors decide to engage the issue, we extend William Gormley's (1986) depiction of “board room” regulatory politics. State energy agencies provide an attention‐focusing role while governors behave strategically in deciding whether to issue executive orders about green buildings. This research adds to the growing understanding of states as innovators in aspects of environmental policy not normally subject to state regulation.     

State Policies Affecting Cities and Counties in 1992

Most states did not make major changes in their policies affecting cities and counties in 1992. California and Maryland are the two leading exceptions. As many states continued to experience fiscal stress, fourteen states cut aid to local governments, while ten states increased aid. Some important changes also occurred in local revenue authority, sorting out responsibilities, and restrictions on unfunded mandates.     

The Grassroots Are Greener: Democratic Participation and Environmental Policies in State Politics

American environmental legislation cannot be fully explained under traditional interest‐group theory, which emphasizes the success of well‐financed, organized interests. One alternative explanation holds that the American public accepts a new environmental ethos that is protective of the natural world and human health. This study examines 100 years of state‐level ballot questions on environmental policy and empirically establishes the emergence and persistence of this new environmental ethos as well as the changing nature of American support for environmental policy. This ethos emerges in 40 years, environmental policy making of this type has been increasingly citizen‐led, inclusive of a wider variety of environmental problems, while embracing a greater range of policy solutions including those premised on more radical notions of humanity?s relationship with the natural world.     

State Health Policies, Federalism, and the Elderly

This article examines recent state health policy efforts forthe elderly and their implications for future federal and stateroles. States have been particularly active in creating programsto address the needs of the chronically ill and in seeking tomodify regulatory policies and promote private sector efforts.Those efforts have involved relatively autonomous state programsas well as programs developed within the intergovernmental system.To meet the health policy needs of an increasing elderly population,future federal policies must recognize potentials for significantstate contributions and seek to minimize actions that reducepolicy innovation, while continuing to address the problem oflimited responses in low-performance states.     

The Fiscal Consequences of Changing Federal and State Revenue Policies: The Case of Small Oregon Cities

This article examines the fiscal consequences for twelve, smallOregon cities of recent changes in federal and state intergovernmentalrevenue policies. Many small local governments have experienceddouble revenue reverses in recent years—reductions inown-source revenues because of economic decline as well as decreasesin intergovernmental revenues, especially federal aid. The twelvesmall cities are compared with all 241 cities in Oregon andthe 136 Oregon cities in the 1,000 to 49,999 population range.Using aggregate and interview data, a major finding is thatalthough stabilization and/or decline in federal-state revenuesharing and entitlement program funds have accentuated difficultlocal revenue situations, economic decline has been the moreimportant contributor to the fiscal stress of the twelve smallmunicipalities. Most of the twelve cities had limited fiscalcapacity—as indicated by low assessed property valuations—makingit difficult to produce sufficient revenue to meet basic publicservice needs. These cities were also unable to get citizenapproval of increases in property taxes.     

The Expected Impact of State Immigration Legislation on Labor Market Outcomes

In response to the dramatic rise in the number of unauthorized immigrants to the United States, every state has passed some form of immigration legislation. These laws appear to be predicated on a belief that unauthorized immigrants impose greater costs than benefits to state and local communities, including the labor market. The purpose of this paper is to examine some evidence on what workers should expect if the immigration legislation is successful in eliminating undocumented workers from states' labor markets. © 2012 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.