Barrett and Greene – Resources for the “Spotlight on Statehouse and Local Reporting” program.

State resources: Where we get our information

1. Auditors. We are devoted readers of state and local audit reports, and give particularly close
attention to performance audits (as opposed to fiscal audits which focus in on numbers as
opposed to actual operations and their results). We also look for annual summaries, produced
by most audit shops, that look at whether recommendations have been accepted and
implemented. Audit committee meetings often provide color and additional information when
specific audits are discussed. Upcoming annual audit plans are good sources for article ideas.

Additionally, we’ve found most auditors are easily reachable and can be tapped with reasonable
speed, when on deadline.

Good sources of general information:

Association of Local Government Auditors. https://algaonline.org/ (Most of the material is

behind the membership wall, but it’s a good way to find involved auditors who we generally find
to be excellent sources.)

National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers and Treasurers (NASACT).

https://www.nasact.org/. Click on the menu at top left of the website home page for
publications, the weekly update, the Washington update and white papers & reports.

2. Government Research Organizations. External watchdog or research groups have tended to

become more partisan over time, but there are many that still have a nonpartisan outlook and
produce reliable research. Check out the organizations that are part of the Government
Research Association. https://graonline.org/. GRA members (both state and local) are listed
under the “About” tab. The GRA report provides a monthly list of reports from different
member organizations (though issues are not always released in a timely way.)

3. Budget offices. In our experience, budget officers are usually the most difficult sources to reach
(very harried and tend to be more political than other officials), but they have an invaluable
perspective on what’s going on.

We highly recommend the Budget Sources document we put together for the Volcker Alliance.
We did this several years ago, so some of the links may be worn out, but the lists of national and
local organizations that provide budgetary and other financial information are very useful.
https://www.volckeralliance.org/publications/state-budget-sources

While we’re on the topic, for journalists who are reporting on state rather than local
government, we highly recommend the Volcker Alliance’s Truth and Integrity reports. (We have
been involved in that project over the last four years, so this is a somewhat biased
Barrett and Greene – Resources for the “Spotlight on Statehouse and Local Reporting” program.

recommendation.) https://www.volckeralliance.org/publications/truth-and-integrity-state-
budgeting-preventing-next-fiscal-crisis

We’re sure most journalists tap the National Association of State Budget Officers for information
and know about the Fiscal Survey of the States and the State Expenditures Survey.
https://www.nasbo.org/home

Less well known may be its e-publications, the Washington Report, State Budget Press Clips,
and the Health Care Update. https://www.nasbo.org/resources/e-publications We’re also big
fans of the webpage titled “Using Data & Evidence in the States”, which provides a wealth of
resources. https://www.nasbo.org/reports-data/using-data-and-evidence

4. Here’s an abbreviated list of other sources we use to generate ideas:

 Interim committees and the reports they generate. These are generally found in states with
legislatures that have long periods when they’re not in session.
 Committee hearings generally. People speak freely and there are often great leads to
interesting stories. (Many governments now provide videos of meetings).
 Association conferences. Often the agenda’s and PowerPoints are captured online. Officials
in these meetings are speaking to their colleagues and may be quite candid about issues
they’re facing.
 Executive orders produced by mayors or governors.
 Agency reports required by legislatures, city councils or county commission. If you’re lucky,
the decision-making body will post these in an easy-to-find and up-to-date list. You can see
two different approaches in Indiana’s “Agency Reports to the Legislature”,
http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2019/publications/agency_report/ and Virginia’s massive
annual list of reports,
https://rga.lis.virginia.gov/?OpenForm&Start=1.396&ExpandView&Seq=8 (Each year the list
forms in chronological order so the most recent reports are at the end.)
 Reports produced by legislative fiscal or research staff. An example is Kentucky’s Legislative
Research Commission, http://www.lrc.ky.gov/lrcpubs/lrcpubs.htm
 We also recommend Policy Notes, the weekly report/trend/issue compilation put out by the
Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability in Florida (OPPAGA),
http://www.oppaga.state.fl.us/shell.aspx?pagepath=PolicyNotes/PolicyNotes.htm and the
weekly list of “Studies in the News” produced by the California Research Bureau,
https://www.library.ca.gov/crb/newsletters/

 Academic studies, found in university public affairs, public administration and public policy
programs. A helpful resource is the Network of Public Policy, Affairs and Administration.
https://www.naspaa.org/

5. There are dozens of other organizations that we depend on to help us stay abreast of what’s
happening in states and local governments. Please don’t hesitate to call or email us if we can
Barrett and Greene – Resources for the “Spotlight on Statehouse and Local Reporting” program.

help you in your search to track down information. Our phone number is 203-917-4430 and our
email address is greenebarrett@gmail.com.

You can find hundreds of past articles by us on Governing.com, which still exists, although
September was the last issue of Governing magazine. You will find current columns by us on
Route Fifty, where we’re writing several columns a month, and on the iBM Center for the
Business of Government, where we’re visiting fellows, specializing in state and local
government. Or, please visit our own website at https://www.greenebarrett.com/