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Our Current Federal Fiscal Mess – What Would Thomas Paine Do?
Nowadays, we are inundated with hundreds of channels of streaming television, the Internet, and our ubiquitous emails and cell phones bombarding us with messaging about products we must buy, causes and issues we should support, or candidates for whom we should vote. Many topics that were for years taboo or at least not openly discussed are now widely broadcast and debated.
From our beginning, our leaders have been telling us that there would be other issues after our Revolution requiring the American People to be all in again, issues so crucially important to our nation’s continued progress or existence that they must not be left to elected or appointed officials to do as they please or think best, or think best serve them. There are some issues about which We The People have to speak up and tell our elected and appointed representatives what we want them to do, hold them strictly to account, promote them to higher office when they do it, and terminate their services when they do not.
As the Constitutional Convention of 1787 concluded Ben Franklin told an inquiring citizen that ours was to be a Republic “if you can keep it”, a warning there would be times when We The People would have to step up and get involved again.
So later did Abraham Lincoln when he warned us...“America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms it will be because we destroyed ourselves.” And it was written and delivered during the years of our Civil War and subsequent Reconstruction, arguably the most perilous of times. Read the entire article here.
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The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) is the private, non-profit organization that establishes accounting and financial reporting standards for state and local governments in the United States. GASB operates under the Financial Accounting Foundation (FAF) in accordance with the rules and procedures set forth by the FAF's Board of Trustees. GASB is primarily funded through accounting support fees paid by brokers and dealers who trade in municipal bonds.
The Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB)
The FASAB serves the public interest by improving federal financial reporting by issuing federal financial accounting standards and providing guidance after considering the needs of external and internal users of federal financial information. In October 1990, three officials responsible for federal financial reporting established the FASAB as a federal advisory committee. The officials were the Secretary of the Treasury, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and the Comptroller General of the United States.
Assets: Anything of value a business or government owns, whether tangible (like cash, inventory, equipment) or intangible (like patents or trademarks).
Liabilities: Debts or obligations that a business or government owes to external parties, such as loans, accounts payable, or bonds payable.
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May 14, 11 AM EST
FROM COURTROOM TO BOARDROOM: STAKEHOLDER COMMUNICATIONS IN FINANCIAL LITIGATION REPORTING with Christine Kuglin, Director of the Truth in Accounting Project at the University of Denver.
Webinar Series on Accounting Research and Education by the American Accounting Association
In the complicated world of financial reporting, litigation presents a unique maze of challenges that demand a collaborative effort from three key principals of the corporate world: attorneys, auditors, and management. This interactive presentation is designed to shine a light on the communications needed throughout the litigation process facing corporate America. Actual disclosures made by companies through their litigation disclosures will be highlighted through comparative analysis. We will address the key issues of timing, probability, and estimation techniques, and explore the unique perspectives and vested interests of each stakeholder group.
Learning Objective(s):
1. To learn how stakeholder groups influence litigation disclosures.
2. To compare and analyze litigation disclosures from companies on opposing sides.
CPE Information: Accounting - 1.2CH
We are pleased to announce this is being offered – with free CPE – as an exclusive benefit to AAA Members. Register here.
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Make your voice heard at GovFin 2024: Municipal Reporting Workshop, July 29-30, 2024, in New York City! This practical 1 ½ day workshop will engage attendees in a dialogue abou the challenges and opportunities for municipal bond issuers and investors in implementing the Financial Data Transparency Act (FDTA).
Sessions will cover the impact of the FDTA on small and large governments, special districts and general-purpose governments; updates on the GASB’s work developing data standards to represent government financials; a discussion about how accountants, lawyers, and underwriters can support issuers in the transition.
Speakers are confirmed to date from the City of Columbus; DAC Bond; DPCData; Eide Bailly LLP; the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB); Funkhouser & Associates; the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB); the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA); Hawkins Delafield & Wood LLP; the National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers & Treasurers (NASACT); Nutshell Associates; PwC; the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Office of Municipal Securities; the SEC Office of Structured Data; Christine Kuglin Director of the Truth in Accounting project at Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver; University of Michigan Center for Local State and Urban Policy (CLOSUP); and the Virginia Housing Authority. More to come.
Register before May 31 for the reduced government rate of $97 (25% off the regular Government attendee rate). Learn more and register now: https://xbrl.us/events/govfin24/
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State Government Spending as a Percentage of GDP
"State Government Spending as Percent of GDP" shows the percentage of a state's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) that comprises a state government's total spending. This figure is useful for comparison of state spending levels, although each state faces unique economic circumstances. For 2022 the states with the lowest percentages were Georgia, Texas, Florida, Nebraska, and Colorado. Florida, Nebraska, and Colorado also have Taxpayer Surpluses in TIA's Financial State of the States. The national average for all 50 states was 12.4 percent.
The state government spending component of this number is taken from the U.S. Census Bureau's Annual Study of State Government Finances and is found independently on Data-Z under the heading Total Expenditures. The GDP used for this calculation is the Nominal GDP.
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