State Spending for Higher Education in the Coming Decade
| Title: | State Spending for Higher Education in the Coming Decade |
| Author: | Boyd, Donald J. |
| Date: | 2002 |
| Catalog #: | |
| Price: | FREE |
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| Description: |
State and local governments are in the midst of a severe fiscal crisis. Over the next two to three years, they will cut spending, increase taxes, and employ other techniques to close large budget gaps. After they restore balance, what will happen? Will new gaps reappear due to a mismatch between underlying revenue and expenditure structures, or will state and local finances boom as in the late 1990s, allowing governments again to increase spending, cut taxes, and rebuild reserves?
This report suggests that even if state and local governments close their current budget gaps with entirely recurring actions, rather than gimmicks that provide only temporary relief, most states will face continuing difficulty financing current services with existing revenue structures, and will not have resources for real increases in spending. Given that state and local governments have increased real per-capita spending significantly in each of the last five decades, this suggests citizens will have to either scale back their appetite for government services or support changes in revenue structures to finance new growth. |