Government Accountability Office Releases New Report on State & Local Finances

The Volcker Alliance took part in extensive interviews with US Government Accountability Office experts as part of their research for the GAO’s newly released study, “Key Trends and Issues Regarding State and Local Sector Finances.” The Alliance was one of only seventeen organizations or companies listed as sources for the report, and one of only four that were not credit rating firms or associations of government officials. The Alliance leveraged data pulled from its ongoing Truth and Integrity in State Budgeting report series to provide insight.

GAO’s report finds that over the past twenty years, state and local governments experienced growth in both spending and revenues. When adjusting for inflation, state revenues increased from $1.6 trillion in 1998 to $2.8 trillion in 2018. From 1997 to 2017, revenues and spending grew faster than GDP for most states, largely a result of increased welfare spending and federal government grants.

A PDF of the full report can be found here.