We found a match
Your institution may have rights to this item. Sign in to continue.
- Title
New Federalism: A Question of Finances and Timing.
- Authors
St. Amand, Stephen W.; Herndon, John Thomas; Cole, James Nathan
- Abstract
The article discusses issues related to the U.S. government's proposed realignment and federal administrative, and budgetary responsibilities of the state for fiscal 1984. Starting in 1984, the federal government would have assumed 100 percent responsibility for the Medicaid program, while turning over to the states the Food Stamps and the Aid to Families with Dependent Children programs. The states would also have become responsible for over 40 heretofore federal programs. A $28 billion trust fund, financed by existing federal excise taxes and a portion of the oil windfall profits tax, would have been made available to states through fiscal 1991. Ending balances--the difference between resources and expenditures--is a good indicator of the trend in the economic health of the states. When fiscal 1980 ended, states had an aggregate 9 percent of their projected expenditures on hand as reserves. A cornerstone of New Federalism is the federal trust fund, which would be made up of a variety of federal taxes that could later be turned over to the states for their use as a taxing mechanisms. With ending balance levels spiraling downward by 84 percent between 1979 and 1983, states have been forced to take drastic action. Of the nearly $36 billion in fiscal 1982 federal reductions, fully one-third of that amount was cut directly from the 13 percent of the federal budget that is earmarked for grants to states and localities. A more rational approach would entail the monitoring of the indicators used in this article with the aim of implementing new federalism at that point in time when the states are in a better financial condition to accept additional financial responsibilities.
- Subjects
UNITED States; PUBLIC administration; BUDGET process; PUBLIC finance; FEDERAL government; TAXATION
- Publication
Public Budgeting & Finance, 1983, Vol 3, Issue 1, p57
- ISSN
0275-1100
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/1540-5850.00588