海角大神

During the Great Recession and its aftermath, the economy wreaked havoc on state budget negotiations, forcing tough votes on spending cuts and tax increases. Since then the economy has improved,聽state tax revenue聽are growing, and legislatures have more room to maneuver during budget season. Yet havoc still reigns in many statehouses. In fact, it might be getting worse.

Last year only two states (Massachusetts and Pennsylvania) failed to pass a budget by June 30, the end of the fiscal year in all but four states. This year eight states missed their budget deadlines.

Iowa, Maine, Wisconsin, and Massachusetts approved budgets in July, while New Hampshire and North Carolina are currently running on short-term spending bills.聽Pennsylvania聽and聽Illinois聽have nothing in place and both states might soon be forced to stop spending on some programs.

The problems in these eight states are now more political than economic. Here's a closer look at the recent budget dysfunction, grouped roughly according to the leading cause in each state.

Republican governors vs. Republican legislatures (when party allegiance isn鈥檛 enough to stop the fight)

Maine聽Republican Gov. Paul LePage wants to聽kill the state's income tax. Republican legislators are sympathetic but lack the votes for full repeal. Instead, they passed a bipartisan budget with a reduced income tax. An unhappy LePage issued 64 line-item vetoes on June 18 and then vetoed the entire budget (in a聽vividly illustrated memo聽that accused the legislature of "morally indefensible" tactics) on June 29. The legislature overrode the line-item and budget vetoes鈥攖he line-item vetoes mostly by unanimous votes. The 2013 budget was also passed over a LePage veto.

Wisconsin聽passed a budget shortly after the end of the fiscal year despite conflicts between the governor and legislature (and not necessarily along party lines) over road and school funding, prevailing wage laws, and borrowing. But resolution did not stop the fight. Gov. Scott Walker聽vetoed 104 items聽as he signed the Republican-approved budget on July 12鈥攖he day before he officially announced his presidential run.

North Carolina聽missed its budget deadline but the legislature passed a temporary spending bill that gives them until mid-August to find compromise. As the debate drags on, the聽Republican legislature is losing patience聽with the Republican governor. The GOP Senate Rules Committee chairman said Gov. Pat McCrory "doesn鈥檛 play much of a role in anything" and the Senate majority leader called him "tone-deaf." The House and Senate recently appointed a combined聽114-member聽conference committee (two-thirds of the legislature!) to work out聽budget differences聽on income tax cuts, education spending, and state employee pay increases.

Partisan fights (when you refuse to let the other party "win")

Illinois聽is locked in a budget battle between newly elected Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and the Democratic legislature. Rauner initially proposed聽$6 billion in cuts聽and the legislature responded with a budget that spends聽$3 billion more聽than projected revenue. Rauner then said that he is聽open to negotiations on revenue, but only if the legislature addresses his key reforms: a property tax freeze, term limits, redistricting, tort reform, and compensation for injured workers. In the meantime, the governor vetoed 19 of 20 appropriations bills (education was the lone exception, so schools will open in the fall) and the legislature failed to override them. Some聽state-funded agencies are closing聽and the two sides cannot agree on a one-month extension. The governor is airing TV ads against the Democrats and legislative leaders are firing back with attacks of their own.

Pennsylvania聽pits a Democratic governor against a Republican legislature.聽Gov. Tom Wolf wants聽to hike income and sales taxes and levy a new tax on natural gas drillers to pay for more money for schools and property tax cuts. Republicans oppose the new taxes and want pension reform.聽Wolf vetoed a GOP budget聽that lacked tax increases and so far Republicans don鈥檛 have the votes to override it. The two sides are talking but also lobbing attacks at each other. The budget impasse could soon聽affect state services.

New Hampshire's聽Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan and the state's Republican-majority legislature are mostly fighting over business tax cuts. The legislature had them in their budget, which聽Hassan called unbalanced and vetoed. She then聽proposed a new plan聽that included some tax cuts along with her policy priorities鈥攕uch as a state employee pay raise and 21-cent cigarette tax hike. Republicans were not impressed, with the House speaker saying, "I am not seeing a path forward with this proposal." Republicans want to override the veto but currently lack the votes. Adding to the partisan聽fight: Hassan is a聽possible聽Senate candidate聽in 2016.The state is running on a short-term measure that allows them to spend at fiscal 2015 levels until January 2016.

Minor squabbles (when it does not take much to miss deadlines)

Massachusetts' legislature approved a budget on July 10 and Republican Gov. Charlie Baker聽signed it on July 17聽after a prolonged聽debate on taxes. 罢丑别听final budget聽spends about 5 percent more than last year and includes an expanded earned income tax credit. Baker agreed to sign the budget only after getting legislative leaders to聽modify a corporate income tax credit聽rather than repeal it, as they had originally wanted to. The final skirmish was resolved last week when the legislature voted to聽override a Baker veto聽and restore millions of education dollars to the budget.

罢丑别听Iowa聽legislature passed a bipartisan budget in early in June but Republican Gov. Terry Branstad waited until聽July 2 to sign it. The governor also issued a聽line-item veto聽against one-time $55.7 million increase in education spending because it came from a temporary surplus, arguing any increase must be sustainable for the long term.聽Democrats are calling聽for a special session to override the veto but they will need Republican votes.

The post聽Recovery cannot save state budgets from politics聽appeared first on聽TaxVox.