We are going to be hearing of different problems the states face as the economy falls. The thing I am looking for is the "we will raise cigarette taxes to help people quit" crap that has got to happen somewhere as everything is just an excuse for more taxes.

This report from Florida will get this started.

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/dec/07/floridas-in-trouble-as-growth-02/
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Sunday, December 7, 2008

TALLAHASSEE — For the dozen state economists huddled around a table this month to fine-tune Florida's annual revenue forecast, something was different and disturbing.

Their projections from just a year ago were way off. Their new math: In the next four years, the state will collect $31.4 billion less in taxes than expected. That's more than six times the Pinellas and Hillsborough county budgets combined, the cost of more than 60 waterfront stadiums for the Tampa Bay Rays, and almost half of this year's state budget.

The free fall in revenues the economists saw Nov. 21 was not as shocking as what caused it: Fewer newcomers were moving to the state for the first time in decades. The state's legendary growth machine had ground to a halt, compounding the troubles brought on by the global recession.

For years, governors and legislators relied on population growth to create jobs, avoid raising taxes and shield the state from recession. They saw Florida's population swell annually by 2 to 3 percent, enough to add a city the size of Miami or Tampa each year. By marketing itself as a low-tax, low-cost retirement haven, Florida literally bet its future on growth.

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I cannot get over the prominence of sentence-paragraph reporting.

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20081207/NEWS/812070344/1033/NEWS?Title=California_not_alone____states_face_combined_deficit_of__97_billion
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Published: Sunday, December 7, 2008 at 4:22 a.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, December 7, 2008 at 7:15 a.m.

If misery loves company, California has plenty of it in terms of budget deficits.

Slammed by declining tax revenues because of the recession, states face a combined budget gap of $97 billion over the next 18 to 24 months, according to report by the National Conference of State Legislatures.

California's $28 billion shortfall is the largest by far -- twice the size of New York state's $14 billion deficit -- and accounts for nearly one-third of the total state deficits.

California is one of 15 states facing a deficit amounting to 10 percent or more of its general fund in the 2009-10 fiscal year, the report said.

Arizona's is the largest at 24.2 percent, followed by New York (20 percent), California (18 percent), Wisconsin (17.2 percent), Minnesota (14.7 percent) and Kansas (14.5 percent).

"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," said William Pound, executive director of the conference.

Twenty states have proposed or enacted spending cuts totaling nearly $4 billion, the report said. No figure was listed for California's proposed spending cuts.

It also found only six states anticipating a stable revenue outlook for the remainder of the current fiscal year.

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http://www.sacbee.com/topstories/story/1459374.html


Published: Tuesday, Dec. 09, 2008 | Page 1A

California state coffers are so dangerously short of cash that $5 billion in public works projects will grind to a halt within two weeks unless there is a fast solution to the budget crisis, state Treasurer Bill Lockyer warned legislators Monday.

Thousands of layoffs could result from delaying construction of projects ranging from school buildings to highway improvements, Lockyer said in a rare joint session of the Senate and Assembly to discuss the fiscal crisis.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/15/nyregion/15budget.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion

By DANNY HAKIM and JEREMY W. PETERS
Published: December 14, 2008

ALBANY — Gov. David A. Paterson will propose a $4 billion package of taxes and fees on a range of items, from sugary soft drinks made by Coca-Cola and Pepsi to luxury items like furs and boats, when he unveils his plan to close a deficit that has ballooned to $15 billion, people with knowledge of the plan said on Sunday.

Higher taxes will also be imposed on health insurers and a sales tax exemption on clothing and footwear under $115 will be eliminated, though the administration will propose a two-week holiday for goods under $500, under the budget the governor will introduce on Tuesday.

A number of fees will be increased, with users of the Department of Motor Vehicles and the state parks bearing much of the burden, people with knowledge of the plan said. Tuition at the State University of New York and the City University of New York will also be increased.

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http://www.latimes.com/business/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-tobacco-taxes,1,659321.story
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By DENA POTTER, Associated Press Writer
2:46 PM PST, December 18, 2008
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Two of the nation's top tobacco-producing states are weighing whether to raise cigarette taxes to plug budget deficits that have sent politicians scavenging for sources of revenue.

The governors of Virginia and Kentucky have each proposed raising their cigarette taxes — each currently 30 cents per pack — to help offset revenue shortfalls of $2.9 billion and $456 million, respectively.

Virginia's tax would double to 60 cents a pack, just four years after its General Assembly passed a historic proposal to raise it from the nation's lowest level at 2.5 cents. Kentucky, the second-largest tobacco producer in the U.S., would raise its tax by 70 cents to $1.

Lawmakers in the six major tobacco states — North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, South Carolina and Georgia — have historically been more reluctant than other states to turn to their cash crop for extra revenue.

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http://ozarksfirst.com/content/fulltext/?cid=113911
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Friday, Jan 30, 2009 @07:39pm CST

With Missouri's jobless rate at 7.3%, the fund that pays unemployment benefits will be broke in two weeks.

The unemployment trust fund has about $37 million dollars in the bank and it pays out around $20 million dollars a week.

But, the state tells Ozarks Fox the federal government will allow it to borrow up to $260 million dollars for the unemployment fund through April.

<last sebtence-paragraph omitted>

http://money.cnn.com/2009/02/02/news/economy/california_budget_crisis/index.htm
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Gov. Schwarzenegger's Golden State is in a world of pain. Now it can't meet its obligations to taxpayers, vendors and others until a budget deal is reached.

Last Updated: February 2, 2009: 4:49 PM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Running short of cash, California has started delaying $3.5 billion in payments to taxpayers, contractors, counties and social service agencies.

With the governor and state lawmakers locking horns on resolving California's budget crunch, the controller Monday halted checks covering these obligations so the state could continue funding its school system and making its debt payments.

The delay will inflict more pain on the already sorry condition of the Golden State, which is facing a $40 billion budget gap. People won't have tax refund money to spend, businesses won't get paid for their services and agencies won't have funds to help the needy until the budget situation is addressed.

Nearly $2 billion in personal state income tax refunds are being held up, according to state estimates. Last year, some two million Californians received refunds in February.

"People are going to be hurt starting today," said Garin Casaleggio, a spokesman for Controller John Chiang.

Also on hold are $515 million in payments to the state's vendors and $280 million to help people with developmental disabilities. Other public assistance agencies will be left waiting for hundreds of millions of dollars.

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This is up because this website is devoted to following all the states and it shows with all the numbers in the report at http://www.cbpp.org/9-8-08sfp.htm

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States are facing a great fiscal crisis. At least 46 states faced or are facing shortfalls in their budgets for this and/or next year, and severe fiscal problems are highly likely to continue into the following year as well. Combined budget gaps for the remainder of this fiscal year and state fiscal years 2010 and 2011 are estimated to total more than $350 billion.

States are currently at the mid-point of fiscal year 2009 — which started July 1 in most states — and are in the process of preparing their budgets for the next year. Over half the states had already cut spending, used reserves, or raised revenues in order to adopt a balanced budget for the current fiscal year — which started July 1 in most states. Now, their budgets have fallen out of balance again. New gaps of $46 billion (over 9% of state budgets) have opened up in the budgets of at least 42 states plus the District of Columbia. These budget gaps are in addition to the $48 billion shortfalls that these and other states faced as they adopted their budgets for the current fiscal year, bringing total gaps for the year to over 14 percent of budgets.

The states’ fiscal problems are continuing into the next two years. At least 41 states have looked ahead and anticipate deficits for fiscal year 2010 and beyond.[1] These gaps total almost $88 billion — 16 percent of budgets — for the 34 states that have estimated the size of these gaps and are likely to grow as gaps are re-estimated in the next few months.

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