Potential State Government Practices Impact of the New GASB Accounting Standard for Retiree Health Benefits

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) has adopted a new accounting standard for state and local government retiree healthcare benefits that, for many states, will require accrual accounting for such benefits for the first time. The purpose of this paper is to examine the recent reporting practices of state governments with respect to retiree health insurance programs sponsored by the states in order to determine the dimensions of potential state employer practices likely to be changed by the new Other Postemployment Benefits (OPEB) standard with respect to accounting for such state plans, as well as financing and offering such state plans.     

The transformation of the new deal party system: Social groups,political ideology,and changing partisanship among northern whites, 1972–1988

This paper examines the partisanship of a neglected segment of the American electorate—white northerners. Like their southern counterparts, northern whites have moved toward the GOP (Grand Old Party) and away from the Democratic party during the last two decades. In fact, a substantial plurality of northern whites now identify with the Republican party. Moreover, Democratic losses and Republican gains have not been confined to particular categories of social groups but have cut across groups traditionally identified with the parties. However, political ideology is closely related to the changing partisanship of northern whites. Liberals have become more Democratic and conservatives have become substantially more Republican since 1972. Moreover, the relationship between ideology and changing partisanship occurs within most categories of social group membership, suggesting that ideological orientations now override social group ties in the formation of partisanship. The northern white electorate, in sum, is undergoing an ideological transformation that is reshaping the contours of American politics.     

Immigrant and Refugee Workers in the Midwestern Meatpacking Industry: Industrial Restructuring and the Transformation of Rural Labor Markets

This paper examines the process of incorporation of immigrant and refugee workers into the meatpacking industry of the Midwest during a period of rapid restructuring. Immigrant and refugee workers have provided low-cost labor to meatpacking firms under pressure from both increased competition and a declining market for red meat. The search for new supplies of labor reflects fundamental changes within the industry. The dynamics of labor force recomposition in the meatpacking industry are the result of the interplay of such factors as the nature of industrial restructuring, the locally available labor supply, and programs designed to move immigrants, refugees, and the unemployed into full-time employment. This process has had differential effects on the industry, workers, the unions, and rural communities.