By Jerod MacDonald-Evoy | Arizona Capitol Times
Gov. Doug Ducey said in his State of the State address that he wants the state’s rainy day fund to be $1 billion, a figure that comports with recent research showing Arizona is ill prepared for the next recession.
Two of those researchers from Pew Charitable Trust, Stephen Bailey and Dr. Alexandria Zhang, presented their findings to the Senate Appropriations Committee Tuesday afternoon.
Pew Charitable Trust has conducted a study of every state’s rainy day funds and used a model created originally by Minnesota to look for patterns and determine what percentage of state revenues should be put into savings.
The general rule for states was that five percent of revenues was the aim, but after the Great Recession in 2008, many started moving towards higher amounts. Pew now says that eight percent is the new norm.
