Friday, December 12, 2008

Bad headlines to make you feel good: “OHIO ISN'T THE ONLY STATE WITH BIG BUDGET WOES”

On Friday,  December 12, 2008 3:17 AM  Jim Siegel writes in THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH : “Ohio's budget misery certainly is getting plenty of company.

“State officials across the nation are facing daunting budget shortfalls and painful cuts, particularly if the federal government does not provide help.

“States face shortfalls this year of at least $32 billion, and are staring at $65 billion in funding gaps for next year's budgets, according to a report from the National Conference of State Legislatures.”

●●What’s 2¢ worth of $65 billion?: Of that $65 billion, almost $44 billion is California's. – smf

OtherState’sWoes.pdf — State Budget Update: November 2008 from the National Conference of State Legislatures

from the report: State finances were taking a turn for the worse long before the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) officially announced a recession, which NBER says began in December 2007.

As early as fiscal year (FY) 2008, nearly half the states faced budget gaps. That number rose to two-thirds by the time states were crafting their FY 2009 budgets. But despite closinga cumulative gap of nearly $40 billion during budget development, the states were not done addressing FY 2009 budget problems.

Another sizable gap has opened and an even bigger one looms for FY 2010. The state budget situation is grim and getting worse with each new revenue revision.

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