Briefing
Retention of recent college graduates in New England
Sasser, Alicia (2009)
This policy brief outlines basic facts about the retention of recent college graduates in New England including how we stack up against other regions, what factors affect the region's ability to retain graduates, and the reasons why recent college graduates choose to leave New England. 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.
New England Public Policy Center Policy Brief

Briefing
The New England rental market
Sasser, Alicia (2007)
New England?s rental prices are high but relatively affordable to most residents.
New England Public Policy Center Policy Brief

Briefing
Lasting connections: using internships to retain recent college graduates in New England
Sasser, Alicia (2009)
This policy brief discusses one promising short-term strategy for retaining the region's recent college graduates: expanding the use of internships within the region to help college students?including non-native?learn more about local job opportunities. The 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.
New England Public Policy Center Policy Brief

Briefing
The supply of recent college graduates in New England
Sasser, Alicia (2009)
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.
New England Public Policy Center Policy Brief

Briefing
Crowded out of the housing market: declining affordability and availability are squeezing New England's very low-income households
Saas, Darcy Rollins; Sasser, Alicia (2007)
Though many New Englanders find it difficult to buy and maintain a home or pay monthly rent, the problem is particularly acute for the region's very low-income households. While many reports about housing affordability focus on the growing affordability challenges faced by middle-income households, they often overlook a crucial problem in the region: very low-income households--those in the bottom fifth of the income distribution are squeezed by declining affordability and limited availability.
New England Public Policy Center Policy Brief

Briefing
Revenue forecasting processes in New England
Shavit, Yael (2009)
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.
New England Public Policy Center Policy Brief

Briefing
Evaluating business tax credits: reading between the lines
Weiner, Jennifer (2010)
This policy brief provides guidelines for critically evaluating and interpreting empirical studies of state business tax credits. This brief summarizes analysis in NEPPC discussion paper 09-3: State Business Tax Incentives: Examining Evidence of their Effectiveness.
New England Public Policy Center Policy Brief

Briefing
GASB 45 and other post-employment benefit promises : the fog is clearing
Brady, Steffanie (2007)
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 ...
New England Public Policy Center Policy Brief

Briefing
Reforming municipal aid in Massachusetts: the case for a gap-based formula
Zhao, Bo; Coyne, David (2010)
This policy brief evaluates the distribution of municipal aid in Massachusetts in FY 2011 and suggests an approach for reforming municipal aid without redistributing current aid. We use the ?municipal gap,? a measure that is outside the control of local officials, to determine a community?s need for municipal aid. To show the general pattern of municipal gaps across the state, we compare five prototype communities -- large cities, job-center suburbs, higher-income residential suburbs, rural towns, and resort towns. The analysis shows that the distribution of FY 2011 municipal aid does not ...
New England Public Policy Center Policy Brief

Briefing
A guide to state debt affordability studies: common elements and best practices
Weiner, Jennifer (2013)
Policymakers must carefully balance a state's capital needs with efforts to keep debt levels affordable. To help weigh these competing concerns, a number of states routinely prepare formal debt affordability studies. By exploring the purpose of such studies, their common elements, and best practices, this policy brief aims to provide guidance to states that are developing or re-examining their own debt affordability analyses.
New England Public Policy Center Policy Brief