State budget increases 2003-2007 (UPDATED)

UPDATED (10:32 a.m. 8/11): After consulting with OFM, $356 million has been added to Washington's FY 2007 expenditures.

After scouring through financial reports for all 50 states, it's painfully clear why no one else has attempted to do a side by side comparison of spending increases for each state - it's like trying to compare the DNA of siblings. You'd think they'd be comparable but they aren't even close.

That said, I think I've put together the closest thing possible to an apples to apples comparison of each states' total budget growth (all expenditures). Unfortunately, this means I had to stop with FY 2007 since that is the last year available for state Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports (CAFR).

Using the "Total Primary Government Expenses" line item from each state's FY 2007 CAFR, here is the table I came up with (dollars in thousands):

State	FY 2003	FY 2007	Change
West Virginia	9,717,217	9,773,625	1%
Iowa	13,157,017	14,123,676	7%
Kansas	10,293,914	11,034,666	7%
Michigan	42,858,249	46,061,725	8%
New Hampshire	4,633,006	5,006,818	8%
Wisconsin	25,146,777	27,407,830	9%
Minnesota	24,678,835	27,105,515	10%
Missouri	18,809,307	20,931,686	11%
Oregon	15,572,468	17,324,041	11%
Nebraska	5,728,401	6,475,828	13%
Ohio	44,407,432	49,987,486	13%
Washington	30,907,800	35,349,800	14%
Massachusetts	35,879,475	40,863,818	14%
North Dakota	3,127,641	3,632,017	16%
Tennessee	18,517,504	21,446,295	16%
Georgia	31,380,621	36,774,840	17%
Illinois	47,768,657	56,076,410	17%
Indiana	20,826,487	24,274,801	17%
New Jersey	42,219,700	49,409,300	17%
Maine	5,579,817	6,573,374	18%
Pennsylvania	47,657,852	56,289,093	18%
Connecticut	18,435,349	22,022,037	20%
Montana	3,328,411	3,989,936	20%
New York	104,215,000	124,784,000	20%
Rhode Island	6,070,245	7,310,857	20%
Alabama	14,881,879	17,990,071	21%
South Dakota	2,397,326	2,908,940	21%
South Carolina	16,819,053	20,568,337	22%
California	148,287,363	182,163,593	23%
Hawaii	6,492,652	8,008,390	23%
Texas	73,924,359	90,524,963	23%
Arkansas	9,017,879	11,135,487	24%
Colorado	10,692,149	13,295,502	24%
Maryland	21,779,728	26,895,928	24%
Delaware	4,811,072	5,987,596	25%
Alaska	5,639,501	7,130,889	26%
Utah	6,709,630	8,480,169	26%
Idaho	5,071,697	6,423,167	27%
Virginia	22,923,000	29,381,000	28%
Arizona	19,613,134	25,759,623	31%
Florida	49,721,332	65,217,092	31%
Oklahoma	10,703,138	14,033,925	31%
North Carolina	27,633,284	36,855,746	33%
Kentucky	15,044,341	20,162,065	34%
Vermont	3,148,340	4,205,912	34%
Louisiana	17,577,900	24,537,990	40%
Mississippi	10,798,245	15,163,485	40%
Nevada	5,128,073	7,152,989	40%
New Mexico	10,035,422	14,150,639	41%
Wyoming	2,246,030	3,547,045	58%

I called West Virginia to see how they were able to stay essentially flat in spending. The answer: In 2005 they fully privatized their Workers Compensation program.

One of the reasons why the spending increase percentage was so high for Louisiana and Mississippi is related to Hurricane Katrina relief.

A caution for Washington, for 2007 there is a disclaimer that says "health insurance programs is zero starting in 2007 due to fund reclassifications." In 2006, that spending was estimated at $1.2 billion. I’m waiting to hear back from OFM to learn if that spending has been captured elsewhere to see if the comparison with 2003's spending is apples to apples. I'll update the table if necessary.

Judging from the budget outlooks for the states, spending has been outpacing revenue resulting in the current spending deficits being reported.

Richard Davis writing for AWB identifies this problem for Washington:

"Make no mistake; red ink stained the budget long before the economy slowed. In March 2007, the members of the Coalition of Washington Business Organizations (COWBO) wrote to state senators:

' ... the state cannot continue to spend more than it takes in. Increasing spending 15 percent while revenues grow 7.5 percent is not responsible. Coming on the heels of a 2005-2007 budget that increased Near General Fund State spending 13 percent, this budget virtually guarantees substantial shortfalls in the foreseeable future.'"

That overspending is projected to be a $2.7 billion problem.

Comments

[Todd W.]

How much is W. Virginia saving by privatizing their Workman's Compensation Program? Also, how or has it affected benefits?

[km]

I remain amazed that, with our unsustainable growth in government and budget, we are only 12th on that list.