The 13 states where Democrats have controlled the state government have increased spending at quadruple the rate of the 24 GOP controlled states since 2011, according to the National Association of State Budget Officers' state expenditures report.
Americans for Tax Reform, a nonprofit taxpayer advocacy group, compared information in the report and found the following:
- Significantly higher levels of growth in government spending in the 13 states where Democrats have unified control of the governor's mansion and both chambers of the legislature, compared with the 24 states where the GOP has total control of state government.
- General Fund Expenditures went up 6.25 percent over 2011-2013 in GOP-run states, whereas in Democrat-controlled states General Fund Expenditures went up 9.95 percent. This 3.7 point difference means that Democrat states increased general fund spending 59 percent faster than GOP states since 2010.
- Total Expenditures increased 1.11 percent from 2011-2013 in Republican-run states, whereas Total Expenditures in Democrat-controlled states shot up by 5.55 percent. This 4.44 percent difference means that Democrat-controlled states increased total spending over 400 percent faster than in Republican-run states.
- 10 Republican states actually decreased their total expenditures from 2011 to 2013, whereas all Democrat states increased theirs.