Municipal finances are a mess all over the United States. While municipal bonds are given "tax exempt" status (or preferential market treatment), the states cannot run their own printing presses.
Get ready to hear about how the first thing to be cut will be "essential services: education, fire, police, safety nets for the poor". I wonder why some of their non-essential services are never on the chopping block. Actually, I do not - they can easily call for more taxes if they can scare citizens with "your child will not get an education" rather than "your new bike path will not be built".
STATES WITH MID-YEAR FY2009 BUDGET GAPS
Size of Gap Percent of FY2009 General Fund
Alabama $1.1 billion 12.7%
Alaska $360 million 6.8%
Arizona $1.6 billion 15.9%
California $13.7 billion 13.6%
Colorado $604 million 7.7%
Connecticut $1.7 billion 10.1%
DC $258 million 4.1%
Delaware $226 million 6.2%
Florida $2.3 billion 9.0%
Georgia $2.2 billion 10.3%
Hawaii $232 million 4.0%
Idaho $218 million 7.4%
Illinois $4.2 billion 14.8%
Indiana $1.1 billion 8.0%
Iowa $134 million 2.1%
Kansas $186 million 2.9%
Kentucky $456 million 4.9%
Louisiana $341 million 3.7%
Maine $140 million 4.6%
Maryland $691 million 4.6%
Massachusetts$2.4 billion 8.4%
Michigan $200 million 0.9%
Minnesota $426 million 2.5%
Mississippi $175 million 3.4%
Missouri $342 million 3.8%
Nevada $536 million 7.3%
New Hampshire$50 million 1.6%
New Jersey $2.1 billion 6.5%
New Mexico $454 million 7.5%
New York $1.7 billion 3.0%
No. Carolina $2.0 billion 9.3%
Ohio $1.2 billion 4.2%
Oregon $442 million 6.6%
Pennsylvania $2.3 billion 8.1%
Rhode Island $372 million 11.4%
So. Carolina $871 million 12.7%
South Dakota $27 million 2.2%
Tennessee $884 million 7.8%
Utah $620 million 10.4%
Vermont $66 million 5.4%
Virginia $1.1 billion 6.7%
Washington $509 million 3.4%
Wisconsin $594 million 4.2%
TOTAL $51.1 billion 10.5%
