END OF THE FISCAL YEAR: HOW ARE STATES DOING? - June 30, 2003 Vol. 4 No. 13

June 30, 2003 Vol. 4 No. 13:

Published: 06/30/2003

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END OF THE FISCAL YEAR: HOW ARE STATES DOING?

The National Governors Association and National Association of State Budget Officers published a sobering report from their latest fiscal survey. The new is very bad indeed. The report finds:

"Fiscal 2003, which will end June 30, was a grueling year for the majority of the nation's governors. Thirty-seven states were forced to reduce already enacted budgets by nearly $14.5 billion - the largest spending cut in the history of the 27-year-old Fiscal Survey."

While some states have resorted to tax hikes, cuts in spending are the real name of the game, with state spending growth cut to only 0.3 percent in fiscal 2003, and expected to decline 0.1 percent in fiscal 2004. The cuts in spending are across-the-board, and states have not been able to exempt even high priority programs like education, Medicaid, public safety, or aid to towns and cities from budget cuts.