Special Briefing: State and Local Budgets in Uncertain Times

As governors and mayors announce their spending plans for fiscal 2024, the panel of experts discuss state and local budgets in uncertain times. 

Our panel of experts includes Shelby Kerns, executive director, National Association of State Budget Officers; Eric Kim, senior director, Fitch Ratings; Lauren Larson, director, Colorado Governor’s Office of State Planning and Budgeting; and Gabriel Petek, legislative analyst, State of California

 Notable Quotes:

 “People only think about the impact on state budgets when we are facing a recession, when it’s getting closer, when the risks are getting higher; I can assure you that state budget officers are always thinking about it. They’re always planning for it.” - Shelby Kerns

 “We think states are well positioned for volatility. After the Great Recession states really had more than a decade to recover and learn the lessons about revenue forecasting and building up fiscal resilience. I think for the most part, they took that to heart and came into the pandemic with a solid set of tools to manage volatility.” - Eric Kim

 “This is a really exciting time in Colorado. Our revenues last year were up 24% and as a benchmark, we are measuring our trendline from pre-pandemic and we are exceeding our pre-pandemic trend line....” - Lauren Larson

 “But I do want to be clear: Our office is not saying that the state should never use reserves. If after solving the level of deficit that we estimate the problem has gotten worse or the economy is going into a recession, we would say that that is the time to use reserves and it would be warranted at that point.” - Gabe Petek 

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Special Briefing is published by the Volcker Alliance, as part of its Public Finance initiatives, and Penn IUR. The views expressed on this podcast are those of the panelists and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Volcker Alliance or Penn IUR.