Fiscal challenges at the state and federal levels are outlined at a Sacramento briefing
—By Yvonne Choong
Speaking before legislative staff members and policymakers at the USC Sacramento Center, USC Law Professor Elizabeth Garrett delivered new findings on state and federal budget policy during a briefing last month titled “Fiscal Challenges: Transparency in the Budget Process.”
The event was sponsored by the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development.
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| Elizabeth Garrett |
Among them were the costs and benefits of transparency in the budget process, current research on the impact of budget process reforms in the 50 states and the changing role of the judiciary in the budget process.
The research presented at the briefing was taken from the new book, Fiscal Challenges: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Budget Policy (2008, Cambridge University Press), co-edited by Garrett, SPPD Professor Elizabeth Graddy and Harvard Law School Professor Howell Jackson.
The book brings together leading experts from several disciplines to explore the problems of budget policy.
Garrett also met with legislative analyst Elizabeth Hill and a number of reform organizations, including California Forward and the New America Foundation.
“USC is committed to producing scholarship that impacts society,” Garrett said. “I was able to talk to state budget policymakers and members of the leading reform groups about proposals being considered now to address California’s fiscal crisis.
“The scholarship presented in our book provides timely and rigorous analysis that can help shape the laws that will be enacted in the next few months,” she added. “In turn, I learned a great deal about the issues facing lawmakers. Scholars can take that knowledge and target their study to the most pressing issues of the day.”
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