摘要:

Perhaps the hottest fiscal topic in state capitals in 1995 was tax cuts. When legislatures convened in January, it appeared possible that states were on the verge of an unprecedented wave of tax cuts. The Republican landslide of November 1994 swept into office many new governors and legislators who had campaigned on reducing taxes. Governor Christine Todd Whitman of New Jersey was considered a role model by many of them. Perhaps state tax policy was about to take a major new direction.According to some reports, that is precisely what happened. For example, Stephen Moore, Director of Fiscal Policy Studies at the Cato Institute, wrote the following introduction to his overview of state tax policies:11995 is shaping up to be the biggest tax‐cutting year in more than 10 years…. [T]he supply side philosophy that low tax rates and expenditure controls are the key fiscal tools to state economic competitiveness now appears to be the new governing philosophy in state capitals from Albany to Sacramento. The Pete Wilson, Lowell Weicker, Jim Florio soak‐the‐rich philosophy of the early 1990s has been nearly universally repudiated across the states. Meanwhile, “Whitmanomics,” named after tax‐cutting Christine Todd Whitman of New Jersey, is spreading rapidly to other states.In fact, there was a wave of state tax cuts in 1995 with about half of the states enacting reductions of some kind. But it appears premature to draw the strong conclusion that this marked a radical change in state fiscal policy. State legislatures trimmed or rejected most of the proposals for large tax cuts. Most of the 1995 tax cuts were small or modest in size Rather than a new departure, they are consistent with past policies at similar points in the business cycle.It is also possible, however, that something new really is afoot. Conservative anti‐tax forces are gaining strength in the states, just as they are at the federal level. If it were not for prospective federal aid cuts, state tax policy really might become more conservative. But the shift of federal responsibilities to states will represent a formidable obstacle to large state tax cuts in the coming years.This article places the tax cuts of 1995 in perspective. It begins with a detailed discussion of ambiguities'in defining and measuring tax reductions and increases. This discussion can be applied to any time period and will remain releva

ISSN:0275-1100    

DOI:10.1111/1540-5850.01056

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

After several years' experience with the new budgetary treatment of federal credit activity, or credit reform, it is appropriate to consider how this innovation is working. One objective of the new approach was to provide both estimates of the cost of credit assistance and a means of monitoring the performance of those estimates over time. In at least one—admittedly difficult—case, FHA single‐family mortgage insurance, the reform is not succeeding in reporting the performance of the subsidy estimate because the agency's budget submissions are not consistent with the new accounting. This failure may result from the agency's inability to accept or adopt the fundamental changes in accounting concepts affected by credit reform. This article attempts to explain some of those changes and to show how they may be used to provide relevant information in the b

ISSN:0275-1100    

DOI:10.1111/1540-5850.01057

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

This article examines the Base Closure and Realignment Commission's (BRAC) decision process. It uses as a case study the BRAC's reversal of the Defense Department's recommendation concerning the east coast air mobility wing. The analysis reviews decision theory, the rational and political decision models, and the financial implications of the reversal decision.

ISSN:0275-1100    

DOI:10.1111/1540-5850.01058

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is getting smaller. Total nondefense staffing in the federal government has declined by about 3 percent over the past fifteen years. Within this total, a number of agencies have absorbed reductions of over 17 percent, including USDA. This article begins with a brief history of USDA Next, it describes the distinction between the downsizing efforts of the 1980s and those that have occurred in the 1990s with respect to what has turned out to be a drastically different programmatic and political climate.

ISSN:0275-1100    

DOI:10.1111/1540-5850.01059

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

This article describes the development and evolution of the Oregon experiment with public political rationing in health care. As dissatisfaction with current health care rationing has mounted, the search has accelerated for alternatives to replace thede factorationing generated by the private health insurance marketplace. As the foremost example of public rationing, the closely‐watched Oregon Health Plan is widely offered as an alternative to traditional private health insurance. Other health care rationing alternatives include health maintenance organizations (HMOs) and proposals that encourage self‐rationing by individual consum

ISSN:0275-1100    

DOI:10.1111/1540-5850.01060

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

The tax and expenditure limitation (TEL) “movement” of the 1970s and 1980s can be characterized in part as a struggle between local autonomy and state control. Undeniable shifts have occurred over the same period in state and local revenue systems and functional responsibilities. This article places these shifts within the context of this movement, using pooled, cross‐sectional, time‐series techniques for the period between 1970 and 1990, in an effort to assess its impacts. Findings suggest that TELs have resulted in increased centralization, lessened local responsiveness, increased use of local non‐tax sources of revenue, and a sector less accommodating to the needs of dependent populations. TELs may have also had dubious effects on both the allocative efficiency and equity of the state and local publ

ISSN:0275-1100    

DOI:10.1111/1540-5850.01061

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

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

ISSN:0275-1100    

DOI:10.1111/1540-5850.01062

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

The old time budget officer has been all but wiped out—the species having been deprived of its natural habitat by the great smoke cloud that began to spread after the great cataclysm of 1974 when the Budget Act began to change all the rules. This, of course, is an overstatement. But it is clear—at least from the perspective of this old dinosaur—that the job of the budget officer has changed over the years, from what many perceived of as a master of financial magic to just another serf (or supervisor) in the bureaucratic feudal system.This isnota polemic against the Budget Act or the changes that have taken place. The only thing constant about the budget processischange. Rather, it is a discussion of how these changes have affected budget officers over the decades that I have been involved in the budget bus

ISSN:0275-1100    

DOI:10.1111/1540-5850.01063

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Book reviewed:Allen Schick,The Federal Budget: Politics, Policy, Process

ISSN:0275-1100    

DOI:10.1111/1540-5850.00856_3

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY