According to a new report issued by the National Governor's Association, many state budgets are near historical levels of growth. Only five states' revenues for fiscal year 2005 are below projections, while 42 states generated more tax revenue than they planned. Despite this good news, the NGA does caution in their report that Medicaid costs for long-term care and other services still threatens budgetary stability. NGA Executive Director Raymond Sheppach stated, "The continued rise in health care costs, spurred by Medicaid, continues to throw a wrench in the recovery of many states." Medicaid, in fact, has now surpassed education as the greatest overall expense to states.

Today, parts of the Minnesota state government shut down for the first time in history, leaving 9,000 state employees without jobs, pay, or benefits. The shut down occured at midnight last night because lawmakers failed to to pass a stpgap plan to keep the government up and running while budget negotiators continue to work on funding details.

Senate Majority Leader Dean Johnson, a Democrat, said ''We need to fix it today. As far as I'm concerned, a one-day partial government shutdown is enough.''

While many states often miss their budget deadlines, their governments continue to run because of laws that automatically extend spending past the end of its fiscal year if a new budget is not approved. The major services affected in Minnesota Services were the highway rest areas, which closed, and the issuing of new driver's licenses. Also significantly affected were the 9,000 employees who were locked out of their jobs. Hopefully this shut down will be temporary, and state legislators will consider passing budget process laws to avoid this in the future.

New York Times article: Minnesota Government Shuts Down; 9,000 Jobless