TRENTON-New Jersey needs to do more to provide accurate, timely meaningful information on tax and budget issues, and a new report tells how.

Let the Sunshine In: Making New Jersey's Budget More Transparent, by NJPP Research Director Mary E. Forsberg, offers a range of recommendations aimed at helping citizens better understand, and influence, public policy on how tax dollars are spent. NJPP produced the report for the Association for Children of New Jersey.

"Making the process more accountable and meaningful is not an end in itself," said NJPP President Jon Shure, "but a means for delivering dollars to where they are needed most and insuring there is vocal, informed debate on state priorities." Ideas evolved from discussions with current and former legislative and executive branch officials from both parties and an analysis of best budget practices in other states.

"The current budget process and documents do not lend themselves to presenting the entire picture for both advocates and the general public," added ACNJ Executive Director Cecelia Zalkind. "For example, the Governor's Budget in Brief highlights a $2.6 million increase for FamilyCare, but says nothing about an $8 million net reduction of projected total program spending due to the elimination of parent enrollment."

Let the Sunshine In calls for New Jersey to pass legislation requiring regular studies on how much the state foregoes from tax breaks and who gets them; how the burden of each state tax falls on households at various income levels; and other reports providing the public with access to more information than is available or easily obtainable now. For example, the state budget should be able to be obtained not just online but also in print, from a central location that any citizen can call or visit. And the state should set up a central distribution office for all governmental reports.

In addition, the report says that citizens must be able to provide input into the budget process at crucial times. "Making things more open and accessible will not only allow the budget process to live up to its full potential, but also allow New Jersey's citizens to live up to theirs."

Among specific recommendations:

EXECUTIVE BRANCH

Include as an appendix to the Governor's proposed budget information on all state authorities and commissions.

Provide in the budget more information about revenues collected and programs supported by such alternative resources as the Lottery and Transportation Trust Fund.

Include in the budget a table listing all diversions from trust funds, including where the money went, where it came from and the reasons for all diversions.

LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

The Office of Legislative Services should make public testimony at budget hearings and departmental responses to budget discussion points available online.

TAX EXPENDITURES

The state should produce an annual report showing how much money the state foregoes through various tax breaks, recognizing that these tax expenditures are as much a part of the overall budget as are appropriations.

FISCAL INCIDENCE

The law should require the state to provide a yearly analysis of how the burden of state taxes falls on taxpayers of various income levels. This analysis should also be prepared for any tax or fee that raises more than $1 million a year and for any legislation that proposes to increase, decrease or redistribute taxes by more than $10 million.

CURRENT SERVICES

The cost of services now in the budget should be projected farther into the future than is now the case, to account for expected changes in demand for particular programs as well as costs.

FEDERAL and DEDICATED FUNDS

Each revenue source and expenditure should be individually identified by the same name to make it easier to understand which money supports which programs.

AVAILABILITY of INFORMATION

The source in law for all programs should be more clearly identified so the public can better distinguish among programs that sound alike.

The budget index should be expanded to include more programs and make it easier to track spending initiatives.

The Governor's proposed budget should more accurately reflect a program's participation, operating needs and funding requirements.

All reports required by law should be listed on the state's website; if the information is not available by the deadline established by law, the website should say so and indicate when a report is expected.

TRACKING

The Governor's budget should include a one-page summary of all current-year supplemental appropriations, showing how much money each department received and why.

The program and fund connection for every language provision in the budget should be identified in the Governor's budget.

No later than October 1 of each year the state should make available a closeout document for the current fiscal year-making spending trends available about six months earlier than they are now.

REVENUE FORECASTING

The role of the Office of Legislative Services in budget forecasting should be formalized, and each outgoing Governor should be required to publicly re-certify revenues before the end of his or her term.

PUBLIC INPUT

Additional budget hearings should be held at two points: prior to agencies' submission of budget request to the Governor and before the Governor's submission of his or her budget to the Legislature.

A state budget is both a document and a process," the report says. "And it is important that both be understandable."

TAX REFORM

WORK & WAGES

BUDGET & FISCAL POLICY

TRANSIT ISSUES

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

VOTING & GOVT REFORM

© 2008 New Jersey Policy Perspective