The Volcker Alliance said Monday that it will be conducting a study called "Truth and Integrity in Government Finance" that is aimed at helping U.S. states improve budgeting and fiscal sustainability.
The alliance has partnered with 13 academic institutes and universities' schools of public administration or policy to work on the multi-year study. The groups will also collaborate with Municipal Market Analytics and with Katherine Barrett and Richard Greene, special project consultants to the alliance.
Data collected by the professors and graduate students from around the country will give the alliance a basis for evaluating state budgeting and financial reporting performance in areas that include clarity and integrity.
"Trust in government is at a low point and part of the reason is that the public cannot even tell what our government can afford," Chairman Paul Volcker said in a press release. "Accounting may be complicated, but governments have an obligation to the public to reveal what services cost, how much money is borrowed, where there are shortfalls, and what tradeoffs society will face to balance the budget. This project aims to show the way."
The study aims to lay the groundwork for governors, legislators, civic organizations, and citizens concerned about fiscal stewardship to effect meaningful improvements in the quality and transparency of state budgets in a time of fiscal stress for many governments.
The alliance's partners for the project include Arizona State University; City University of New York; Cornell University; Florida International University; Georgia State University; University of California, Berkeley; University of Illinois at Chicago; University of Illinois Springfield; University of Kentucky; University of Minnesota; and University of Utah.
Earlier this month, the alliance published
"Many state governments are in a time of fiscal stress. They face critical fiscal trade-offs and decisions and, more than ever, need to pursue sound fiscal practices. Yet many states continue to balance their budgets using accounting and other practices that obscure rather than clarify spending choices," said William Glasgall, director of the Alliance's state and local program. "This project will extend the alliance's 2015 study of three states' budget practices to the entire nation. We are excited about what we believe the research will demonstrate and pleased students and faculty at some of America institutions of higher education are involved with us."
