Search is Powered by Google
Public Health News

New York Times Examines Effect Of Economic Downturn On State Budgets

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 02 Jul 2008 - 9:00 PDT

email icon email to a friend   printer icon printer friendly   write icon view / write opinions   rate icon rate article
Current Article Ratings:

Patient / Public:not yet rated

Health Professional:not yet rated

Article Opinions: 0 posts

States are "bracing for another difficult fiscal year" as they face "high inflation, dwindling tax revenues and a national economic downturn," the New York Times reports. As a result of the revenue declines, a number of state legislatures are "embroiled in pitched budget battles" that have put community and social service programs "in the crosshairs," according to the Times.

State tax revenues in the first quarter of 2008, after adjusting for inflation and tax reductions, declined by 5.3% compared with the same period in 2007, according to a state revenue analysis to be released Tuesday by the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government. According to the analysis, it will be the third consecutive quarter with a decline in total adjusted tax revenue and the lowest first-quarter revenues since early 2003. The Times reports, "Unlike other economic downturns, when states were hurt by faltering corporate and personal income tax revenue, problems this time appear to be led by declines in sales taxes, prompted in large part by the issues with the housing market." In addition, many states "continued to be constrained by high Medicaid costs, even as they sought to increase access to health insurance," the Times reports.

Don Boyd, a senior fellow in the institute's fiscal studies program, said, "There are signs that the economic weakness is very widespread," adding, "Between this past May and three months prior, a lot more states were declining, and we have not caught up with them in the data yet." Boyd said, "Many more states are having outright declines in their economies, and that is presumably a harbinger of budget problems" (Steinhauer, New York Times, 7/1).

The report is available online (.pdf).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

© 2008 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.




Weekly Newsletters Daily News Alerts
Home About Us News Licensing Free Website Feeds Free Tools & Content Links Tell a Friend Accessibility Help / FAQ Article Submission Contact Us
Psychiatry Urology
Bipolar Schizophrenia

medical news gadget

Add to Google


developers
website gadget code
website news code
medical news rss feed links


MedReader RSS Reader


Katrina's Health Aftermath image Katrina's Health Aftermath

The worst of Hurricane Katrina may be over, but thousands of evacuees from the Gulf coast still face an uncertain future. With the recovery underway, are we prepared for the next perfect storm...

Drug Interactions image Drug Interactions

Most people realize drugs have side effects. But did you know drugs can interact with other prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, herbal supplements and sometimes even food...

View more videos...