state budget deficit

Kansas has been criticized since 2012 for cutting taxes irresponsibly, despite a court-ordered increase in education spending. Tax cuts in the Sunflower State may have been larger than circumstances warranted,…

Among the major causes of this year's $800 million state budget deficit is a $108 million increase in projected Medicaid spending. After a brief period of slow growth in the late-1990s, North Carolina's Medicaid program is now a significant threat to the state's long-term fiscal health. It is also the most expensive Medicaid program in the South. The state should enact reforms in eligibility and benefits which could save taxpayers at least $251 million a year.