Budget Shortfalls Could Stop Republican Governors From Keeping Big Promises

Budget Shortfalls Could Stop Republican Governors From Keeping Big Promises

by Elaine S. Povich at Pew's Stateline, Huffington Post

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/14/republican-governors_n_6472022.html?utm_hp_ref=politics

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Many newly elected and re-elected Republican governors stormed into office pledging to cut taxes. Now, in the face of lower than expected revenues, some are in a predicament that might remind movie buffs of the 1972 film “The Candidate,” in which Robert Redford’s character won a U.S. Senate seat only to ask, “What do we do now?”

Some governors are being forced to reconsider their tax cut promises, while others are contemplating budget cuts to bring state balance sheets into equilibrium. Most states are in better fiscal shape this year than in the recent past, but in 20 of them, revenues for the current fiscal year are coming in under projections, according to the National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO).

Overall, state revenues are projected to be $748.3 billion in fiscal 2015, a roughly 3 percent increase over the $726.1 billion states collected in fiscal 2014. But when those numbers are adjusted for inflation, state revenues still are 2 percent below the pre-recession peak, according to NASBO Executive Director Scott Pattison.

“There’s stability, growth, but overall a lackluster picture,” Pattison said. “We are not seeing significant growth.”




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