Does your state have its fiscal affairs in order? It’s not an easy question to answer, in part because the question can mean so many different things, including:The Mercatus Center at George Mason University has compiled this information in an interactive manner so you can check on the state by state comparison.
- Can the state pay its current bills? (cash solvency)
- Will annual revenues be sufficient to cover budgeted expenditures? (budget solvency)
- Are the state’s long-term liabilities—think bonds and loans—sustainable? (long-run solvency)
- How much room is there to raise additional revenue should the need arise? (service-level solvency)
- Can the state meet its pension and health care obligations? (trust fund solvency)
Long-run solvency. Can a state meet its long-term spending commitments? Will there be enough money to cushion it from economic shocks or other long-term fiscal risks? |
MA does not do well. We are ranked 48 of the 50. Yes, well down the bottom.
You can find the rankings here
http://mercatus.org/statefiscalrankings
The MA summary is here
http://mercatus.org/statefiscalrankings/massachusetts
A video explanation of the process can be found here