Faced with some of the worst shortfalls on record, state budgets nationwide may not see full recovery until 2011, a new report says. The biannual “Fiscal Survey of States,” released on June 4, shows states’ total spending is expected to dip by 2.2% in fiscal 2009 and 2.5% in fiscal 2010.
“These are some of the worst numbers we’ve ever seen,” says Scott Pattison, executive director of the National Association of State Budget Officers, which released the survey with the National Governors Association. Thirty states are expected to end fiscal 2009 with budget shortfalls, and another 35 could be in the red in 2010. Raymond Scheppach, NGA executive director, notes, “This downturn, from a state perspective, would have been a lot worse if we didn’t have a [stimulus] recovery package.”