28 States Facing Budget Shortfalls
At least 28 states, including California, are facing shortfalls this year in their already enacted 1991 budgets, thanks to the faltering economy and growing demands for spending, a survey released Wednesday said.
The troubled states, whose numbers are expected to grow as the economy worsens, face a combined shortage of $9.6 billion, or 3.2% of their planned expenditures, the report said.
“That $9.6 billion is an extremely large number this early in a recession,” said Gerald H. Miller, executive director of the National Assn. of State Budget Officers, one of two organizations that conducted the survey.
To balance their budgets, governors and state legislators are mulling long menus of possible spending cuts, including hiring and travel freezes, across-the-board cuts and layoffs, the study said.
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