No matter how you slice it, state spending has been growing steadily and aggressively over the past 10 years. The 2001-2002 recession briefly dampened the upward climb, but spending has more than made up for the momentarily lull since then.
Over the past 10 years, the total operating budget for the state rose 80 percent, according to the Legislative Audit and Review Commission’s annual report on state spending. Adjusting for inflation, spending still increased 45 percent. Adjusting again for population growth, it still increased 30 percent.
Read the JLARC report here, or read the “cliff notes” version in Barton Hinkle’s Richmond Times-Dispatch column here.
