Revenue Volatility in the Rearview Mirror

The most recent 50-state data on state tax collections were issued by the Rockefeller Institute in September, and cover the first calendar quarter of 2015. With volatility in the rearview mirror, tax collections in recent quarters have returned to more moderate growth rates.

TANF at 19

In the mid-1990s, state policymakers partnered with federal officials to rewrite the major federal cash assistance program, with the purported goal of “ending welfare as we know it.” Out the window went Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), replaced by Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).