Fiscal Policy
It’s tedious to follow the debt ceiling/budget deficit wrangling, I know. Around here, we have the ProJo trumpeting tax increases as the “obvious fix” and telling the Republicans “to do what grownups do” while explaining that “the health-care reform law passed last year would have begun to kick in its projected savings for the government”…
Steve Malanga looks at the national problem of cities in over their heads (particularly because of pension promises) and uses Providence (and New Haven, CT) as examples: Cities are also running out of fiscal alternatives to deal with their deficits. Like states…many cities have used one-shot revenue deals, hidden borrowing, and other gimmicks to bolster…
The bill being heard today by the House Finance Committee that would give municipal bondholders a “first lien” on local government treasuries (H5376), introduced on behalf of the Rhode Island Department of Revenue and already passed by the Senate Finance committee (S0614), should not be passed into law. Peder Schaefer of the Rhode Island League…
A Gina Macris story in today’s Projo discusses funding for public higher education in the always-troubled Rhode Island state budget…Governor Chafee’s budget would add a total of $10 million to higher education, stopping the decline in state support and sparing Community College of Rhode Island students tuition increases. But the system as a whole will…
The following press release materialized in my in-box this afternoon. With regard to the location – Fort Collins, CO – note that Colorado is the state to which the former Mayor of Cranston Steve Laffey and his family have relocated. “Fixing America” The Movie Fort Collins, CO – April 26, 2011 Stephen P. Laffey and…
Once upon a time, a guy named Mike had money accumulated from various sources. He wanted to use some of that money to buy a car. The car was priced at $20,000. As Mike was preparing to visit the car dealer, a young gentleman named Brian passed by. Brian had also accumulated some money of…
To those of us not in the public sector, it seems outsized when public employees and politicians make so much of temporary pay freezes or a few minor cuts (or reductions in the expected increases!). Red Jahncke adds some context that will help us understand their perspective by explaining how, nationwide, local and municipal government…
You’ve probably heard about states’ – specifically not excluding Rhode Island’s – cash flow problems in which unfunded pension liabilities feature prominently. A federal bailout redux would kick the can down the road ease the problem for another year, though even the most tax-n-spend-happy state politicians have wisely been pessimistic about such a development. You…
About a month-and-a-half ago, I sent the transition team of (at the time) Governor-Elect Lincoln Chafee a set of potential interview questions, including this one…There has been speculation in national media that several states facing long-term fiscal problems — a category that can be fairly said to include Rhode Island — may ask for a…
Richard Licht continues to moderate… [10:33] Q to George Nee, President of the RI AFL-CIO: I know you are concerned as anyone else with balancing this budget. Do you have any ideas where money can be saved? [10:34] George Nee: We have focused too much on the FTE issue. We haven’t looked at total personnel…
