Budget Gimmicks Explained

Last week, California Governor Jerry Brown vetoed a budget that he said was filled with gimmicks — or as he put it, “legally questionable maneuvers, costly borrowing and unrealistic savings.” Editorial boards have praised Brown for exercising responsible fiscal judgment. Meanwhile, Brian Joseph of the Orange County Register has written that Brown’s own budget plan uses gimmicks, too.

All this begs the question: What qualifies as a budget gimmick? There’s no textbook answer to that question. But there are certain techniques that states sometimes use to make the budget look balanced when it arguably isn’t. If there’s one thing all of these tricks have in common, it’s that they push this year’s budget problem off into the future.

Here are five common budget gimmicks states use:

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