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@gmail.com or on twitter @MortenHensenThe federal government has set the stage to change the system by which it pays out the debt. And it’s about to do so.

It’s a decision that will touch every American by providing relief to states that, up until now, have struggled to deal with the unfunded obligations of the Social Security and Medicare programs and will have a ripple effect across the nation. It’s also a significant victory for the conservative movement’s call for cutting spending, which is often characterized as “voucherizing,” since it would eliminate the need for states to increase their own revenue by taxing private sources of income over what’s required to pay for government expenditures.

The federal government doesn’t have to pay a single dime out of general revenue for those programs, which account for more than 70 percent of the nation’s operating revenue. State governments, with one large exception, have to come up with all the money to run those programs. Those differences are reflected in how much, for instance, a person gets paid in Social Security benefits. But it means there is no clear line between what the government must spend, and how much it must pay, or else the program runs out of resources. That creates tremendous problems for state officials. “To run the program properly, it’s important for states to be reimbursed from somewhere for the cost of their operations,” says John Lamm, an adviser to the Federation of States and Territorial Governments. But the current system “doesn’t give states any incentive to provide for their citizens.”

A shift, and one of the more sweeping and far-reaching changes, is already underway. The White House Office of Management and Budget has made its preliminary determination that the government shouldn’t have to pay the full cost for entitlement programs. (That’s a preliminary determination, not final. And the Office of Management and Budget may reverse itself at any time.) That proposal, to be issued as part of a budget proposal by March 15, will require a response from Congress. And that means that a number of states will be able to provide benefits without having to raise their tax burden.

California is a good example of how California’s shift could work. California, along with other states including Maryland and New York, already have an entitlement program in place for the elderly. It requires them to pay a portion of their Social Security and Medicare taxes into a health fund that pays benefits to people in nursing facilities and to those who can’t work for medical reasons