Budget Matters Blog


State Smart: Federal Jobs in Your State

Our last State Smart preview digs into federal jobs and compensation in the states and what they mean for a pathway to the middle class.


Spotlight: Education and Student Loans Voter’s Guide

This week, we’re spotlighting our education-themed voter’s guides with facts about Education, Student Loans and Student Debt.


Countdown to 2014 Nobel Peace Prize Announcement

NPP is a 2014 nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize, which is being announced on Friday.


NPP to U.S. Treasury: Here's Why Spending Data Matters

NPP presented its outside-the-Beltway perspective on federal spending data to the U.S. Treasury Department.


Participatory Budgeting Can Transform our Democracy

Last week I had the good fortune to join an amazing group of people doing exciting and transformative work in the growing field of participatory budgeting (“PB”), at the third annual PB Conference, held this year in Oakland (and nearby Vallejo), California. [I was invited to speak on two panels--one...


State Smart: Federal Grants to Your State

Today's State Smart preview spotlights federal grants that go directly to state governments and ultimately affect people in our communitites.


Spotlight: NPP’s Health Care and Affordable Care Act Voter’s Guides

This week, we spotlight our Voter’s Guides on health care and the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) to give you the current state of federal health care policy and spending before the November 4 election.


State Smart: Federal Aid to Individuals in Your State

From California’s agricultural Central Valley to cities like Detroit and Washington, DC, to coal mining towns in Appalachia, federal aid to individuals touches communities in many ways. NPP previews a new State Smart dataset showing you how.


Millennial Perspective: The Promise of Participatory Budgeting

NPP Executive Director Doug Hall will present at the Participatory Budgeting Conference taking place in San Francisco on September 25-27 on how to influence the federal budget process. In honor of the power of participation, we bring you a guest post from Tarsi Dunlop, of the Roosevelt Institute, on what participatory budgeting is and why cities should adopt it.


Spotlight: NPP’s Social Security and Unemployment Insurance Voter’s Guides

Americans say that ensuring the Social Security system and improving the job situation in our country are two of the most important issues facing Congress and the president in 2014. Here at NPP we have developed a set of Voter’s Guides that break down key federal budget issues like these into easily digestible facts and provide you with important questions for the candidates.