MA Fellow Co-Authors Article on Maryland State Spending
MA Fellow Co-Authors Article on Maryland State Spending
Mercatus Center MA Fellow Benjamin VanMetre recently co-authored “The Appearance of Fiscal Prudence,” published in The Maryland Journal with Eileen Norcross, Lead Researcher for the State and Local Policy Project at the Mercatus Center.
The article focuses on Maryland’s Spending Affordability Committee (SAC),formed in 1983,and its effectiveness in curtailing the State’s spending. The data compiled and reviewed by the authors highlights the weaknesses ofthe SAC as compared to some Tax and Expenditure Limitation (TEL) committees and rules in other states. Ms. Norcross and Mr. VanMetre also emphasize the perverse incentives that arise from the rules governing Maryland’s SAC. For instance, because the SAC uses only certain budgetary data, it has recommended “an average annual increase of 5 percent growth in the operating budget” per year. At the conclusion of the article, Ms. Norcross and Mr. VanMetre recommend both a TEL based on sound principles and other “institutional reforms in order to meet the goal of limiting spending as intended by…Maryland’s Spending and Affordability Committee.”
Read the full article on the Mercatus Center Publications Page.
Benjamin VanMetre is an MA Fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. Before joining Mercatus, Ben earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Beloit College where he double majored in Economics and Management and Psychology. His research interests include international and state-based development issues, entrepreneurship, institutional arrangements, and economic freedom.
Eileen Norcross is a senior research fellow with the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. As lead researcher on the Mercatus Center's State and Local Policy Project, she focuses on the question of how societies sustain prosperity and the role civil society plays in supporting economic resiliency. Her primary research interests include fiscal federalism and institutions, state and local governments, and economic development.