By: Shayna Cohen Students in American colleges and universities that identify as first-generation, minority, and/or low-income are at a higher risk to drop-out of college. The consequences of higher drop rates include lost consumer spending and savings, increases in the national debt, and a less-educated workforce. Students who graduate from college tend to earn more … Continue reading FSU’s CARE Program Combat First-Generation Student Dropout Rates
Study Explores Local Government Response to Recessions
Recessions can be trying times for city and county governments. They typically experience a fall in revenue from two primary sources: 1) a shrinking property tax base because of falling property values and 2) lower intergovernmental transfers—grants and other payments received from the state and federal governments—because of cutbacks made at these higher levels of … Continue reading Study Explores Local Government Response to Recessions
New Policy Brief Critical of Florida’s Economic Development System
By Matt Kelly A new DeVoe L. Moore Center policy brief criticizes Florida's economic development system. Targeted industry incentives have played a prominent role in the economic development strategies of state governments for decades. In the late 1970s and 1980s, enterprise zones and tax incentives were seen as an appealing “market-oriented” alternative to New Deal … Continue reading New Policy Brief Critical of Florida’s Economic Development System
New Study Explores Crony Capitalism in Florida
A new study published by The James Madison Institute by DeVoe L. Moore Center Policy Analyst Matthew Kelly and Center Director Samuel Staley explores two examples of crony capitalism in Florida's government policy: sports stadium subsidies and film tax incentives. The authors urge Floridians to remain vigilant over the spending of their tax dollars by government … Continue reading New Study Explores Crony Capitalism in Florida
The Per Business Regulatory Burden: Ranking Florida’s Local Governments
By Matt Kelly and Tyler Worthington The dramatic increase in federal government regulation has been well documented by economists and journalists, as has its detrimental effects on economic growth. The DeVoe Moore Center has constructed assorted measures of state and local regulatory restrictiveness. This article focused on revenues collected per business on the local level … Continue reading The Per Business Regulatory Burden: Ranking Florida’s Local Governments
Decision-making in a Community Redevelopment Agency
By Casey Barr As discussed in a previous blog post, Community Redevelopment Agencies (CRAs) are a form of special district government that funds local redevelopment projects with taxpayer subsidies. But how are spending and organizational decisions made in a CRA? (Source: City of Tallahassee. Available at: https://www.talgov.com/cra/CRAHome.aspx) CRAs can only be established when two governmental units, such … Continue reading Decision-making in a Community Redevelopment Agency
Special District Spending Priorities and Political Entrepreneurship
By Matt Kelly and Tyler Worthington Special districts are small local governments created by state statute or local ordinance to fulfill a particular purpose in a specified geographic area. Some special districts control the mosquito population in an area, while others are in charge of things like fire protection, library administration, or utility services. Unlike … Continue reading Special District Spending Priorities and Political Entrepreneurship
Special Districts in Florida
By: Matt Kelly and Tyler Worthington Former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Tip O’Neil once said, “all politics is local,” meaning that politicians must appeal to local constituents to succeed. Yet political economy is arguably most opaque and complex at local levels. Local governments have grown as numerous as they are multifaceted. Over … Continue reading Special Districts in Florida
Health Care and Education Departments Spend the Most of Florida’s State Budget
By: Nick Hyder and Tian Ma With 2015 behind us, it’s worthwhile to take stock of last year’s spending by state government. A state’s spending says a lot about its priorities, and accountability to taxpayers is an important component of a democracy. The Agency for Health Care Administration tops the list of spending by state … Continue reading Health Care and Education Departments Spend the Most of Florida’s State Budget
The Top 10 Highest Earning Counties in Florida
By: Igor Lukashevich and Nadia James The top six Florida counties for revenue intake per capita are as follows: Duval, Monroe, Miami-Dade, Franklin, Charlotte, and Collier. Total revenues for counties follow very closely with total expenditures, as the same six counties also topped the list for expenditures per capita. This relationship makes sense because the … Continue reading The Top 10 Highest Earning Counties in Florida
Florida’s Frugal Government
By Randall G. Holcombe, Ph.D. Living in Tallahassee, I often hear people complain about Florida’s frugal state government. It is true that Florida is among the most frugal states. According to this article Florida is second from the bottom among states in per capita state government expenditures, and this article says Florida is also second … Continue reading Florida’s Frugal Government