Budgeting in the States Institutions, Processes, and Politics

Subjects:

• Political Science » State & Local Politics
• Economics » Economics (General)

Reviews:

• State budget processes in the US, although following approximately the same general template, have many individual features, and they work in differing political contexts. The essays that Clynch and Lauth have assembled for this volume track these differences and what they have meant for individual state finances in the last two decades....These authors give outstanding insights into how budget procedures operate; how institutions and demographics in states influence the process and outcomes; how political balancing shapes state finances; how process reforms arrive and then fade in government operations; and how states manage shocks to their economic systems. They demonstrate again how states can operate as "insulated chambers of experimentation" in the American federal system and how many different ways a responsible and responsive fiscal system can be constructed. Highly recommended. Graduate, research, and professional collections.
  —Choice February 2007
• Sixteen papers characterize formal executive-legislative relationships across states and examine several informal factors that help governors and legislators overcome institutional weaknesses and increase their leverage over budget decisions. Papers discuss budgeting in the statess--institutions, processes, and policies.
  —Journal of Economic Literature March 2007
• A good way to take the pulse of a state's priorities and its political, demographic, and economic trends is to look at its budget. Clynch and Lauth introduce 16 chapters examining the contentious process involved in budget and policy-making. Building on the framework they presented in Governors, Legislatures and Budgets: Diversity Across the American States (1991), they overcome deficits in both aggregated data and single-state studies by presenting in-depth, single-state studies developed within a common framework and timeframe. To the mix of gubernatorial and legislative authority, they add the complicating factors of political party controls, court decisions, voter initiatives, and "rational" budget reforms instituted by most states.
  —Reference & Research Book News February 2007

• Endorsement From Elaine Evancho
  Administrative Coordinator
  NASBO: States are going to face some very difficult fiscal times over the next decade and beyond. Looking at specific states and studying specific examples as [this book] does is one of the best ways to deal with at best a major problem and at worst a major crisis.

Table of Contents:

• Acknowledgements
• Budgeting in the States: Institutions, Processes, and Policies--Edward J. Clynch and Thomas P. Lauth
• California: Revenue Scarcity, Incremental Solutions, the Rise of Citizen Initiatives and the Decline of Trust."--Jerry L. McCaffrey
• Georgia: Shared Power and Fiscal Conservatism--Thomas P. Lauth
• New York: The Growth, Waning, and Resurgence of Executive Power--Dall W. Forsythe and Donald J. Boyd
• Connecticut: Public Scarcity and Private Wealth--Carol W. Lewis
• Illinois: Constitutional Versus Negotiated Powers--Douglas R. Snow and Irene S. Rubin
• Oregon: The Influence of Direct Democracy on Budget Outcomes--Bill Simonsen
• Florida: Ebb and Flow in Executive-Legislative Relations--Robert B. Bradley
• Kentucky: The Executive/Legislative Budget Role Transition Continues--Merl M. Hackbart and James R. Ramsey
• Nevada: Budgeting at The CrossroadsPaula D. Yeary
• South Carolina: Executive Budgeting Brings A Stronger Gubernatorial Voice to the Table--Cole Blease Graham, Jr.
• Virginia: Expenditure Increases, Tax Cuts, and Budget Deficits--James K. Conant
• Wisconsin: Institutions, Processes, and Policies--James K. Conant
• Mississippi: Changing Gubernatorial-Legislative Dynamics in Budget Decision Making.--Edward J. Clynch
• Texas: The Use of Performance Data in Budgeting and Management--Robert L. Bland and Wes Clarke
• Utah: "Economics, Political Culture, and Priority Setting"--James J. Gosling
• Budgeting in the States: Innovations and Implications--Edward J. Clynch, Thomas P. Lauth, Barbara A. Patrick