State Policy Reports

September 2019, Volume 37, Issue 18

Index of State Economic Momentum

The Index of State Economic Momentum ranks states based on their most recent performance in three key measures of economic vitality: personal income growth, employment growth, and population growth. Reports updates the index each quarter. In the third quarter of 2019, Nevada retained the top spot, while Alabama most closely approximated the national average economic performance.

September 2019, Volume 37, Issue 17

Revisiting Federal Fiscal Relief

Recent economic signals suggest that the long economic expansion following the Great Recession may be winding down. Accordingly, state fiscal observers, policy makers, and analysts are wondering what this could mean for state fiscal conditions and whether the federal government will step in to help, as it did in the previous two recessions.

August 2019, Volume 37, Issue 15-16

A Federal Budget Update

This issue of Reports summarizes the federal budget update that Federal Funds Information for States has been providing to its subscribers this summer.

July 2019, Volume 37, Issue 14

A CRS Summary of School Finance Practices

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) has released a survey of school finance practices among the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The report highlights a dearth of school-level finance data at a time when there is heightened federal interest in it.

July 2019, Volume 37, Issue 13

Twenty Years On, Remembering Hal Hovey

Reprinted here is an interview Hal Hovey gave shortly before his death in October 1999, which ran in Reports Volume 17, Issue 10, plus an accounting of how well his observations have stood the test of time.

June 2019, Volume 37, Issue 12

Index of State Economic Momentum

The Index of State Economic Momentum ranks states based on their most recent performance in three key measures of economic vitality: personal income growth, employment growth, and population growth. Reports updates the index each quarter. In the second quarter of 2019, Nevada retained the top spot, while Minnesota and Alabama most closely approximated the national average economic performance.