What Washington Doesn’t Know About State Budgeting

As soon as word got out that state revenues recorded an increase in the first quarter of 2010, some on Capitol Hill leapt to the conclusion that all is well with state budgets. However, states are spending less today than they were two years ago, so they have only begun to climb out of a deep hole.

The Good News on Revenues

Yes, state tax collections have moved into positive territory. No, it doesn’t mean states are out of the woods.

Is Soda the New Tobacco?

It looked for a minute there as if states might begin to treat sodas and other sugar-sweetened drinks in the same way they treat tobacco: as a threat to public health that should be taxed to both discourage consumption and fund treatment of related health conditions. It didn’t turn out that way, at least not yet.

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