This report summarizes the status of states' budgets at the end of fiscal year 1997. The year's strong national economy boosted tax revenues and helped to decrease welfare rolls. Unemployment at the end of 1997 was below 5 percent nationally and real GDP growth was 3.5 percent for the first 3 quarters of the year. These indicators translate into…

Fiscal stress has plagued state and local governments in the first part of the 1990s, and difficulties in balancing budgets and obtaining revenue for needed public services are likely to continue. This document examines the leading alternatives for increasing state and local tax revenue, pointing out that the best options vary from state to state.…

The nine-college Los Angeles Community College District, which has an enrollment of 135,000 and a payroll of 11,000 and which receives 80% of its operating budget from local property taxes, faced post-Proposition 13 cutbacks of 52% of its non-restricted operating revenue. Three types of alternative budgets based on state funding possibilities were…

Three reports are presented that address the problem of implementing 1978-79 contingency plans developed by the Los Angeles Community College District in response to a June 1978 property tax reduction initiative, Proposition 13. Report No. 1 provides an overview of district problems resulting from the tax limitation measure. Fiscal and educational…

The Oregon educational system confronts a set of legislative challenges similar to, yet different from, the rest of the nation. Like the rest of the nation, distrust of government runs high, politicians are wary of raising or restructuring taxes, the economy is expanding, and the November 1994 state election shook up the political leadership of…