April 19 (Salt Lake City) – The Utah State Legislature unanimously passed House Bill 452 to institute multiyear estimates for state revenues and expenses as advocated by the Volcker Alliance, a nonpartisan group whose mission is to advance effective management of government. Passage of the measure followed the Volcker Alliance’s release of Budget Report Cards for Utah and 49 other states earlier this year as well as the study Truth and Integrity in State Budgeting: What is the Reality? published in November 2017.
The new study is a result of a multi-year study conducted in partnership with more than 50 professors and graduate students in public finance and budgeting at 11 U.S. schools of public administration or policy, including the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute. Juliette Tennert, the Institute’s director of Economic and Public Policy Research, and a member of the Alliance’s research network who led the team’s examination of Utah’s state budget, said, “Working with the Volcker Alliance on the Truth and Integrity in State Budgeting project has been an incredible opportunity to provide actionable research and influence informed decisions. We are thrilled to see how the work is supporting public budgeting processes in this environment of more and more scarcity in resources and ever-growing critical needs.”
The new Utah law, titled Legislative Fiscal Analyst Amendments, requires the Office of the Legislative Fiscal Analyst to evaluate current and long-term trends relating to taxes and federal fund receipts and requires the initiation of a three-year cycle of analysis on revenue volatility and other budget matters.
William Glasgall, senior vice president and director of the Volcker Alliance’s state and local initiatives, said, “In fiscal 2017 through 2017, only nine states received average “A” grades for their budget forecasting procedures in our study. The Utah legislation addresses some of the areas in which Utah could improve its budget practices. It is gratifying to see the positive changes Utah has introduced and we look forward to assisting other states to introduce similar improvements.”
All 50 report cards are accessible through an interactive map and include grades on each state’s critical budget practices plus a detailed breakdown of the assessments.
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The Volcker Alliance advances effective management of government to achieve results that matter to citizens. The nonpartisan Alliance works toward that objective by partnering with other organizations—academic, business, governmental, and public interest—to strengthen professional education for public service, conduct needed research on government performance, and improve the efficiency and accountability of governmental organization at the federal, state, and local levels.