Fiscal Policy Report Card on America’s Governors 2018

Abstract

The U.S. economy is in its 10th year of economic expansion, and state government budgets are benefiting from a solid growth in tax revenues. State general fund revenues have grown 40 percent since 2010. Many of the nation’s governors have used the growing revenues to expand spending programs, whereas others have pursued reductions in taxes.

That is the backdrop to this year’s 14th biennial fiscal report card on the governors, which examines state budget actions since 2016. It uses statistical data to grade the governors on their taxing and spending records — governors who have cut taxes and spending the most receive the highest grades, whereas those who have increased taxes and spending the most receive the lowest grades.

This report discusses these fiscal policy developments and examines the tax and spending actions of each governor in detail. The hope is that the report encourages more state policymakers to adopt the fiscal approaches of the top-scoring governors.

Keywords: fiscal, governor, responsibility, tax, taxes, spending, increase, reduction, budget

JEL Classification: E62, G18, G28