History of IDEA
Jeannie Oakes, Founder and Former Director
Youth Voice in School Finance
NEW REPORT: Los Angeles' road to A-G for all
Without Dollars and Sense Powerpoint
Past Educational Opportunity Reports
States balance budgets with cuts, not taxes
- 06-15-2011
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By Pamela M. Prah/Stateline
As 2011 began, the budget situation in state capitals looked more dire than just about anybody could remember. States were entering their fourth consecutive year of a fiscal crisis, with $82 billion worth of budget gaps to close. At the same time, budget aid from the federal stimulus program was drying up. It’s turned out to be a little less horrible than expected. That’s largely because more than half of the states saw more tax revenues come in than they had anticipated, a small but significant dividend from a gradually improving economy. California discovered an additional $6 billion in tax revenues that it hadn’t counted on. In New Jersey, the windfall was more than $900 million; in Michigan it was $429 million. The extra cash helped ease the sense of emergency. But it wasn’t enough to save most states from the budget reckoning they anticipated. (more...)
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