State Budgets and Cuts to Services

States plug budget holes, for now, By Pamela M. Prah, August 17, 2009, Stateline.org: “This year’s state legislative session will go down as one of the most brutal in recent memory as the national recession forced lawmakers to find money to cover a staggering $215 billion in estimated budget gaps for 2009 and 2010 – the equivalent of more than $700 for every man, woman and child in the country. Even with the federal stimulus package dumping billions of dollars into the states, California, Kentucky, Nevada, New York and Washington are among states that struggled with the largest deficits in modern history. California, by far, faced the biggest challenge – a whopping $26 billion gap – that forced the state to slash $15 billion in basic services, including program funds for K-12 education and health care for the poor, and to divert some $4 billion from local jurisdictions…”