US states move to make cuts permanent

[Hannah Bell]

A growing number of states are responding to their worst-ever budget crises by enacting permanent cuts to spending on social programs and education and by laying off and furloughing workers.

For the first time ever, the collective spending by state governments has declined for two consecutive years. It fell 4 percent this year and 4.8 percent in the last fiscal year according to the National Association of State Budget Officers.

The worst is yet to come. States estimate that their most severe shortfalls will come in the 2011 fiscal year. The National Conference of State Legislatures predicts a combined deficit among the states of $110 billion for the next two years. It is generally accepted that state budgets will remain in the red until 2013 at the earliest, while “some predict state revenues will not rebound until late in the next decade,” according to Stateline.org...

A November 23 report by the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government shows that state tax revenues in the third quarter declined in all 44 states surveyed and by 10.7 percent in total. Corporate income taxes dropped off even more sharply, by 19.4 percent...

This week, a particularly graphic example of this came from Tennessee, where it has been announced that the state’s health insurance plan for children from low-income families, CoverKids, will no longer accept new applicants. The Tennessee legislature has not appropriated enough money for the program to meet rising demand, even though state spending is matched 3-to-1 by the federal government through the Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP. State officials have so far refused to tap into the CoverKids program’s own “rainy day fund,” saying this would be fiscally irresponsible.

In addition, Tennessee will also no longer accept applicants for its health coverage for low-income adults, CoverTN, which is jointly funded by employers, employees, and the state.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/dec2009/stat-d03.shtml

[Posteritatis]

1. I love how education always seems to be the first target whenever there's a spending cut...

...'cause that will work out just fine in the long run...

[avaistheone1]

2. Funding for the disabled is always a first target

And I think that is particularly evil.

The federal government is not interested in helping the states because Obama has to get his war on. Americans are just not important to our government. Fighting wars with fairy-tale villains is though important.

[reggie the dog]

3. WHY NOT JUST RAISE TAXE ON THE RICH???

That would be too easy, tax the rich fuckers who pay shit in tax compared to 50 years ago.

[leftstreet]

4. K&R

[raccoon]

5. Funding for the mentally ill is always a popular target too.

I guess the jails will have to take care of them. :grr: