A “Crisis” of Their Own Making

A National Conference of State Legislatures report released today is sparking gloom-and-doom headlines about states in fiscal crises. Conspicuously absent from the news stories is any mention of the root cause of the “shortfalls” supposedly wrecking havoc in state capitols. Over the last few years, state lawmakers forgot the lessons of the 1990s, and decided to add new programs and significantly expand general fund spending on existing programs.
Now, according to NCSL:
Current state fiscal conditions are being driven by weak revenue performance. State officials expected revenue growth to slow in FY 2008, but not as dramatically as it has. […] Because most FY 2008 budgets were built on revenue forecasts that are not materializing as expected, budget gaps have grown.