The past five years have been unusually volatile for state and local finances. Pandemic-era federal aid and strong revenues gave governments breathing room. Then interest rates rose, inflation pushed up salaries and pension costs, and federal support receded. Fiscal year 2024 is the first year to offer a complete picture of what that cycle left behind, and it’s more complicated than the top-line numbers suggest.
Reason Foundation’s State and Local Government Finance Report and Government Finance Dashboard just published data for fiscal year 2024, the most recent year with complete financial reports available across 22,637 state and local governments. For the first time, the dashboard also lets users access financial data back to 2020 for the largest government entities.
You can find overviews of the state and local debt here: State and local governments have $6 trillion in total debt, including over $1 trillion in California. And state-only debt here: A study of all 50 state governments finds Connecticut, New Jersey, Hawaii and Illinois have the most per capita debt.
Speakers
Mariana Trujillo: Managing director of government finance, Reason Foundation
Jordan Campbell: Managing director of government finance and senior quantitative analyst, Reason Foundation
Source: reason.org
