Even the good news is bad: CALIFORNIA DOESN’T HAVE THE WORST BUDGET GAP

The latest on California politics and government from the SacBee

December 4, 2008 - As large as it is, California's projected budget deficit may be only the third worst among the states according to a new survey by the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Arizona, with a projected 24.2 percent deficit next year and New York at 20 percent are deeper in the hole than California at 18 percent, the NCSL survey found. In terms of actual dollars, however, California easily leads the pack. Overall, NCSL says, states face $97 billion in additional budget deficits over the next 18 to 24 months and California, at $28 billion and growing, approaches a third of the total.

"These budget gaps are approaching those seen in the last recession, which were the worst since World War II, and show every sign of growing larger," says William T. Pound, NCSL's executive director. "While the data we collected from state legislative fiscal officers are pretty sobering, our discussions with legislative leaders tell us that they expect the problem to only get worse."

More on the NCSL report is available here.

Categories: California by the Numbers

Posted by Dan Walters