Report
Long-Term Fiscal Challenges
Federal, state, and local governments face long-term fiscal challenges. Policy Futures analyzes the long-run budget situation; identifies policies that enhance economic growth and opportunity as well as reduce deficits; promotes federal and state tax systems that are equitable, efficient, and raise sufficient revenues; helps states improve their fiscal planning; and resists efforts to impose federal and state fiscal straightjackets.
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Reinvesting in Infrastructure Would Boost State Economies
State and local investment in transportation, public buildings, water treatment systems, and other forms of vital infrastructure has fallen to a 30-year low. Reversing this decline is key to...
It’s Time for States to Invest in Infrastructure
States should identify and make investments in infrastructure that provide the foundation for a strong...
Funding for Housing, Health, and Social Services Block Grants Has Fallen Markedly Over Time
See https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-budget/block-granting-low-income-programs-leads-to-large-funding-declines-over-time for a more recent version of this analysis.
Funding for housing,...
Better Cost Estimates, Better Budgets
State legislators need accurate and useful information about the cost of spending- and tax-related proposals to make good decisions about the proposals. Nearly all states produce some sort of cost...
Better State Budget Planning Can Help Build Healthier Economies
States routinely put at risk some of the country’s highest priorities ― educating children, maintaining a healthy and trained work force, and caring for the elderly, for example ― by failing to...
Our Latest Look at the Nation’s Long-Term Fiscal Outlook
The nation’s fiscal outlook has improved significantly since 2010, but it remains challenging, according to our new long-term budget projections.
Under current budget policies, we project that...
CBPP Projections Show Long-Term Budget Outlook Has Improved Significantly Since 2010 But Remains Challenging
Under current budget policies, the nation’s fiscal outlook is stable for the rest of this decade and then worsens gradually, according to CBPP’s new long-term budget...
Difference Between Economic Growth Rates and Treasury Interest Rates Significantly Affects Long-Term Budget Outlook
An underappreciated factor in long-term budget projections is how the projected interest rate (“R”) that the federal government pays on its debt and the projected growth rate of the economy...
Why Budget and Tax Plans Shouldn’t Use Dynamic Scoring
Congress should reject calls to use “dynamic scoring,” which includes estimates of how proposed policies would affect the size of the economy and thus revenues, in official cost estimates for tax...
Low-Income Programs Not Driving Nation’s Long-Term Fiscal Problem
Programs outside health are projected to decline relative to the...