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Briefing
The fiscal capacity of New England
New Englanders may demand high levels of government services, but their underlying need for public service provision remains quite low, and they tend to be able to better afford the costs of these services relative to the rest of the nation. As a result, the region?s state and local governments face relatively less pressure to raise taxes or increase spending in order to achieve a basic level of public services, and constituent preferences may play a larger role in the fiscal decisions that New England policymakers make.
Briefing
Small employers and expanded health insurance coverage
New England states have been national leaders in developing and enacting health insurance programs. But as the new laws play out on real ground, various constituencies are seeing real or perceived devils in the detail of the expansion laws. For one group in particular?small employers?efforts to extend coverage have become a two-edged sword.
Briefing
The supply of recent college graduates in New England
This policy brief investigates factors affecting the region's supply of recent college graduates and how those factors have changed over time, and suggests steps that states might take to expand this source of skilled labor. This brief summarizes analysis in NEPPC research report 08-1: The Future of the Skilled Labor Force in the Region: The Supply of Recent College Graduates.
Briefing
GASB 45 and other post-employment benefit promises : the fog is clearing
It is often said that you won?t get rich working for the government, but you can?t beat the benefits. One form of these benefits is ?Other Post-Employment Benefits"(OPEB), which represent government promises to employees to provide health care and other non-pension benefits after retirement. Government employers commonly use these benefits to attract talent in lieu of large salaries or bonuses and to provide future security to employees. Until now, governments have also been able to apply preferential accounting treatment to OPEB plans, which allowed deferral of the costs of today?s ...
Briefing
A more equitable approach to cutting state aid
Local governments in New England rely on state aid to finance the provision of essential public services. Yet in response to the recent and ongoing fiscal crisis, state governments across the region have cut local aid deeply, often by the same percentage in each community. This across-the-board approach ignores differences in underlying local fiscal health and places a larger burden on many resource-poor communities. To address this concern, this policy brief provides a new, more equitable approach that allocates smaller aid cuts to communities that are in worse underlying fiscal health and ...
Briefing
Immigrants as a potential source of growth for New England’s highly skilled workforce
In recent decades, growth in New England?s college-educated workforce has lagged behind that in the nation as a whole. Attraction and retention of college graduates, especially those trained in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields is a policy priority. This brief analyzes the region?s attraction and retention of foreign-born college graduates, examining two groups of immigrants: those arriving in the United States between the ages of 16 and 20, and those arriving in the United States between the ages of 21 and 29. The author finds that the foreign-born make up a ...
Briefing
Nurse-to-patient ratios
This brief is based on information presented at the 25th Massachusetts Health Policy Forum, held on March 30, 2005 at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
Briefing
Ensuring adequate electrical capacity in New England
A settlement accepted by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on June 15, 2006, may finally resolve years of disagreement over how to increase New England?s electrical capacity. The final settlement was signed by 107 of the 115 parties negotiating for four months to create a forward capacity market for electricity in the region. Despite such strong support, however, several important parties oppose the plan, and its economic impact on the region is not yet clear.
Briefing
Revenue forecasting processes in New England
State governments creating their budgets are concerned about available revenues. The basis of a successful budget is a sound revenue forecast. How states arrive at this forecast is both a science and an art and the approach differs markedly among states. This policy brief responds to the dearth of readily accessible information about states? revenue forecasting processes by describing, comparing, and contrasting the revenue forecasting processes of the New England states.
Briefing
Hollywood east?: film tax credits in New England
Five of the six New England states now provide tax credits or other financial incentives to attract producers to film on location. This policy brief discusses whether these incentives attract more production, and whether they are cost-effective in creating jobs. It focuses on the use of one major incentive: film tax credits.