We’re nowhere close to being out of the woods. That’s been our message of late on the state’s budget outlook (you can take a look here at our blog post analyzing of the most recent monthly revenue collections and here at the memo (PDF) on the budget we distributed to candidates). While revenue collections over the past 8 months have rebounded 5 to 10 percent from the previous year, they remain well below pre-downturn levels. And even though revenues are recovering, the use of over $1 billion in non-recurring revenues from the federal stimulus bill and state Rainy Day Fund  in this year’s budget to avert catastrophic budget cuts ensures that Oklahoma policymakers will face substantial shortfalls in building next year’s budget. Read the rest of this entry »

A new poll from the Pew Research Center presents interesting findings about the state of public opinion regarding the state fiscal crisis.  A late June poll of 1,001 adults found a majority of respondents saying that states should fix their own budget problems by cutting services or raising taxes,  rather than relying on additional help from the federal government (In the poll, just 26 percent agreed that,”The federal government should give more money to states, even if it increases deficit,” compared to 56 percent who said, “States should take of this, by rising taxes or cutting services). However, when asked about the actual options for balancing state  budgets, solid majorities of Americans said no to everything:

Pew Research/National Journal Congressional Connection Poll, June 2010

The message from the American public couldn’t be clearer: balance the budget, but don’t cut services and don’t raise taxes. With such a strong popular mandate from the voters, is it any wonder that our elected officials are so eager to make the tough political choices?

July 1st marks the start of the new state fiscal year in most of the country – but as glad as state Governors, fiscal directors and legislators will be to see the end of the annus horribilis of 2010,  don’t expect to hear the sound of Champagne bottles being uncorked or bands striking up “Happy Days Are Here Again” to usher in the new year.

As noted in a new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities:

Dismal state revenue collections caused by the severe recession are setting the stage for a new round of state budget cuts as fiscal year 2011 begins in most states on July 1. The states’ cumulative budget shortfalls will likely reach $140 billion in the coming year, the largest shortfall yet in a string of huge annual gaps that date back to the beginning of the recession. Read the rest of this entry »