Governors seek remedies for budget shortfalls

By Keith B. Richburg
The Washington Post
Published: Sunday, Jan. 13, 2008 12:14 a.m. MST
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NEW YORK — Faced with a weak national economy and a worsening housing crisis, a growing number of states are confronted with severe budget deficits, forcing some governors to come up with creative — some say risky — budget gimmicks to find new sources of cash.

At least 13 states — led by California, New York and New Jersey — are facing huge shortfalls for the next fiscal year, and about a dozen others are in serious financial difficulty, according to various budget estimates, reports from the governors and a survey by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal think tank in Washington that advocates for the poor.

Utah is at the opposite end. In tax revenue growth alone, it will take in an additional $431 million, even though lawmakers have sliced taxes by more than $310 million over the past two years, including a $220 million reduction by the 2007 Legislature.

Unlike the federal government, most states are not allowed, by their constitutions, to run budget deficits, so legislatures convening for their 2008 sessions must make painful decisions over what programs to cut or which taxes to raise to close the gaps.

One of the main causes is fallout from the nation's housing crisis. Declining home sales, deflated property values and mounting foreclosures have caused a slide in states' tax receipts, helping push their budgets into deficit.

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"It's amazing how sales tax revenues are tied to the housing market," said Iris J. Lav, deputy director of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. "People aren't buying construction materials, people aren't furnishing new homes. Some states also have real estate transfer taxes."

The biggest crisis is in California, where Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared a fiscal emergency, after reporting a $4.6 billion revenue shortfall and a projected deficit of $14 billion deficit for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1. Schwarzenegger proposed reducing every state program by 10 percent next year, eliminating cost-of-living adjustments and enacting budget revisions to reduce what he called "Sacramento's overspending."

In the Northeast, which leads the nation in declining home sales, some governors are trying creative, one-time budget gimmicks to raise badly needed cash to finance some of their favored long-term projects.

In New York, which is looking at a $4 billion shortfall, Democratic Gov. Eliot L. Spitzer is considering a plan to securitize, or sell off, a portion of the state's future lottery proceeds to start a $4 billion endowment for New York's public universities.

In New Jersey, with a $3.5 billion shortfall and a crushing $32 billion debt, Gov. Jon S. Corzine, a Democrat, has proposed drastically increasing the toll fees on the state's three toll roads and issuing up to $38 billion in bonds against future toll revenues. The money would be used to pay down the debt and make needed infrastructure improvements.

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Hopefully our State leaders including the Legislator will realize...

It will happen here as well | Jan. 13, 2008 at 5:29 p.m.

HERE IS THE SIMPLE SOLUTION FOR CALIFORNIA, RETIRE GOV EMPLOYEES...

WHAT DID YOU SAY | Jan. 13, 2008 at 11:21 a.m.