According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the current downturn is tougher than the last recession on state budgets:
source: CBPP, "State Budget Troubles Worsen"
So which states are taking the biggest hits (as a percentage of total budget)? And what else do many of them have in common?:
source: NOfP chart, via CBPP, "State Budget Troubles Worsen" (numbers), Wikipedia (votes)
Notes: Oregon's budget is a two-year estimate; Wikipedia's color classification is based on "the average margins of victory in the last five presidential elections"; and Alaska's current shortfall has been absorbed by that state's $7 billion long-term budget surplus.
Prior classification of state finances here. See also WILLisms.
MORE:
Assistant Village Idiot's suggested "bumpah stickah": "New Hampshire: Gone Blue. Gone Broke."
(via Moonbattery, via ABC News)
2 comments:
Nevada's budget crunch is a result of the economy, surely, but it's not exactly the result of the same massive government spending and expansion seen in California, New York, and other states on the list. Because Nevada has no state income tax, the majority of state revenues come from gaming taxes, other tourism-related taxes, and sales taxes. Needless to say, with people spending less and traveling less, there are bound to be problems--as the revenue base is by its very nature more volatile than it would be in a state with a different kind of tax structure. The recently-ended session of the state legislature passed some budget cuts and some relatively modest tax increases in a few areas which appear to have closed the budget gap for now, though I'm sure that by the end of the year the governor will be calling for more cuts.
Anony:
Thanks!--that's helpful info. I gotta visit Vegas's crap tables to enhance both Nevada's tax base and my income.
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