What Health Reform Means for Montana
Each year, over 150,000 Montanans struggle to provide health insurance coverage for their families. For thousands more, the cost of health insurance is making it harder and harder to meet their families’ other basic needs.
The health reform package recently passed by Congress may not solve all of our health care system’s underlying problems, but it will bring coverage to thousands of Montana families who had been living without access to affordable health care, at relatively low cost to the state of Montana.
This edition of the State of Working Montana explains how health reform will improve access to care in Montana. While we do not cover every provision included in the bill, we have kept a sharp focus on how the bill improves affordability of insurance and access to coverage for the uninsured.
Capital Gains Reform Will Strengthen Montana
In 2003, the Montana legislature passed a capital gains credit that benefits a very narrow part of our population, at the expense of public programs from education to health care. Montana is one of just nine states offering a significant tax break for capital gains income.
This report explains how the capital gains credit is costing Montana valuable revenue, and why we need funding for our public structures more than ever.
Revenue Crisis Shows the Need for a Balanced Approach to the State Budget
Tax day, the governor's 5% cuts to the state budget, and a range of other budget debates have passed, allowing the opportunity to envision a path ahead for the Montana state budget.
MBPC Research Director Sarah Wilhelm argues for the need for a balanced approach to the state budget in a guest editorial in the Great Fall Tribune, where she explains the important connection between tax revenue and state services like education and land management:
Montana Can Bypass a Costly and Ineffective Federal Tax Break for Corporations
Like most other states, Montana’s revenue has been dropping dramatically over the past year. A little-known contributor to the declining revenue is a federal corporate tax break that is hurting our revenue stream and was never approved by the Montana legislature.
This report explains the impacts of the Domestic Production Credit, and shows how its elimination will help Montana solve its revenue crisis.
How the Recovery Act Benefits Montana
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed by Congress last year did a lot to jumpstart growth in Montana. Jobs, services, and investment have stayed afloat thanks to this crucial piece of legislation. It's hard to imagine how much worse things would have been without the stimulus package.
This report details how the ARRA kept people working, services functioning, and money flowing due to its injection of spending into our economy.
The Balanced Approach to Closing State Deficits
Closing state budget deficits is never easy, but everyone can agree that a one-sided approach that focuses only on cuts won't work. Because reduced funding could decimate public education, health care infrastructure and environmental protections, Legislatures across the country are taking a balanced approach to fiscal policy by raising revenue.
Raising revenue during a recession isn't just possible, it's instrumental to recovery because it maintains jobs, consumer spending, and services that support growth.
States Respond to Recession Through Tax Changes
The recession has devastated funding for state services, costing jobs, income, and services for people throughout the United States. In response to the crisis of public service, many states are making intelligent changes to their tax codes to make up budget gaps and stimulate economic growth.
A new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities explains how new taxes have helped save jobs and services across the country. These are some of the measures states have taken to raise revenue for public jobs, education, health care, and other services:
The State of Working Montana in 2009
The Montana economy has experienced a lot of turmoil over the last two years. Across the state, the quantity and quality of jobs has declined thanks to lay-offs, reduced pay, and other effects of the global economic crisis.
A new report from the Montana Budget and Policy Center examines the impacts of the economic downturn on our state, finds that many lack the opportunity to create a better future for their families, and outlines potential pathways to a more prosperous future for all Montanans.
Download the report at the link below.
The Stimulus Proves its Worth to Montana
A year after the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the stimulus has proved its ability to create jobs and maintain services for Motnana families.The act flushed money into the Montana Economy, and made sure thousands of people could maintain their incomes, and stimulate growth through consumer spending.
MBPC Executive Director Tara Veazey reflects on the progress of the ARRA in the Montana Standard, and also notes that a lot of work is left to be done:
Emergency Spending Cuts Can Be Minimized and Targeted to Avoid Further Harm to Economy and Montanans
Because of declining state revenue, Governor Schweitzer will be required to make emergency cuts to state spending. According to a new MBPC report, cuts can be limited to approximately $31 million, compared to the $47 million in reductions government agencies have analyzed. The report outlines recommendations designed to protect the already struggling state economy and Montana families working hard to make ends meet.