Budgeting in the States: Institutions, Processes, and Politics

by Edward J. Clynch, Thomas Lauth

Overview

Budgeting is a central activity in state government, and annual or biennial appropriations are the most important recurring decisions made by state legislatures. Gubernatorial recommendations reflect state agency program needs and portray the policy priorities of the chief executive. Legislative appropriations determine which agency programs, gubernatorial policy initiatives and legislative constituencies receive financial support. Budget execution decisions by state agencies determine how the policy decisions of the governor and legislature are actually implemented. In short, state budgeting determines how much money will be available for state spending, which policies will be initiated and implemented, and whose social and political values will prevail in state governance.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780275980139
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	09/30/2006
Pages:	332
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.75(d)

About the Author

Edward J. Clynch is Professor and Graduate Coordinator for the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at Mississippi State University. His research interests include public administration education and state budgeting. He has published numerous articles on these topics in professional jourbanals. He is the co-editor of Governors, Legislatures, and Budgets: Diversity Across the American States.

Thomas P. Lauth is Dean of the School of Public and International Affairs at The University of Georgia. His articles on state budgeting have appeared in several academic jourbanals. He is the co-author of Compromised Compliance: Implementation of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, co-author of The Politics of State and City Administration, and co-editor of Governors, Legislatures, and Budgets: Diversity Across the American States.

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

What People are Saying About This

Elaine Evancho

"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."

Editorial 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

“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.” —Jourbanal of Economic Literature

“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

From the Publisher