Connecticut:
back in the news. Posted October 7, 2018.
New Jersey:
they kicked the can down the road for another year. I don't think on-line tax sales will "save the state." If they get through this fiscal year without another fiscal crisis, I would be surprised. If they do, next year will be much worse. Posted July 1, 2018.
Illinois:
residents fleeing. State now drops to #6 in population, dropping below population of Pennsylvania.
Posted December 21, 2017.
Connecticut:
the state's economy is in crisis. January 9, 2018.
Connecticut: only $3.5 billion shortfall? Shouldn't be that difficult. Just raise taxes.
Hartford expected to declare bankruptcy in November, one month from now --
WSJ. October 2, 2017.
Illinois:
long story in Chicago Tribune today; homeowners fed up with property taxes; leaving the state; data points, posted September 30, 2017:
- "not just property taxes, but all of them"
- in 2016, Illinois lost 37,508 people, putting the state's population at its lowest level in nearly a decade
- third consecutive year the state has lost more residents than any other state
- the state's population count for 2017 will be released in December
- Illinois, two years without a budget
- this past summer: Illinois lawmakers passed a spending plan that involved a 32% income tax hike for residents
- before the tax hike, Illinois was ranked #46 among the states for highest tax burden (Forbes)
- most people move for employment reasons -- according to consultant
So, we have a triple-edged sword:
- people who are employable (and pay taxes) are leaving; people who are unemployable (and don't pay taxes) are staying
- people who can afford to move (those who pay taxes) are leaving; people who cannot afford to move (non-property owners, lower income, those who do not pay taxes) are staying
- whatever the reason, the tax base is declining, meaning that those left behind will have a higher tax burden
Illinois:
unpaid bill backlog hits a record $16 billion. September 20, 2017.
Illinois:
needs a half year of taxes just to pay the bills -- June 27, 2017.
Illinois is functionally bankrupt, and the only good news is that
Illinois favorite son Barack Obama is no longer in the White House to
bail them out.
Illinois:
Illinois' comptroller says the state is now in "massive crisis mode."
New court orders mean her office must pay out more each month than Illinois receives in revenue. The state must prioritize what gets paid as Illinois nears its third year without a state budget. A mix of state law, court orders and
pressure from credit rating agencies requires some items be paid first.
Those include debt and pension payments, state worker paychecks and some
school funding. And, oh, oh, oh, ObamaCare: a recent court order regarding
money owed for Medicaid bills means mandated payments will eat up 100
percent of Illinois' monthly revenue.
Illinois:
could Illinois be the first state to file for bankruptcy?
-- CBSNews.
Illinois: unable to reach a budget deal;
credit rating lowered to just one notch above junk.
Connecticut.
Fox News, May 27, 2017.
Situation becoming more dire.
Connecticut.
WSJ. May 19, 2017.
$400 million shortfall. $5.1 billion deficit projected over next two fiscal years: fixed costs -- pension obligations, health-care expenses, and debt servicing. Population continues to shrink; shrinking since 2013. The top rate state income tax is only 6.99%.
Connecticut.
WSJ. February 4, 2017. Connecticut governor seeks to shift teacher pension cost to towns, cities. Data points:
- governor wants to shift $400 million in annual teacher pension costs from state to cities
- states faces a budget deficit of about $1.7 billion for fiscal year that begins in July
- onus on property taxpayers
Illinois: dire.
Reuters -- posted January, 2017
- unpaid bills could surpass $13 billion; currently $10.6 billion (late 2016)
- budget deficit could grow beyond $5 billion
- no 12-month operating budget for two years (since 2015)
- forecast: $7 billion deficit in 2018; $6.5 billion deficit in 2022
- unpaid bills could grow from $13.5 billion at end of fiscal 2017 to $47.1 billion by 2022 (five years from now)
New Jersey:
one multi-billionaire does his part to help New Jersey get back to income equality. He left.
Alaska:
oil severance taxes (revenue for the state) dropping to zero. The trend is a disaster; the volatility is terrifying, January 12, 2016.
Alaska: one year later,
Alaska is no closer to solving its deficit problem. December 26, 2015.
Alaska:
may already be in recession; will enter next fiscal year with a $3 billion shortfall. Statoil exiting Alaska. November 19, 2015
Illinois: despite huge tax increase,
Chicago still faces a huge pension fund gap. November 10, 2015.
Illinois:
electricity may be shut off at state capitol; unpaid bills. October 1, 2015
Days without a state budget: 90
Backlog of unpaid bills: $6.4 billion
Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White warned that garbage pickup at the Capitol, electricity and rent payments for state offices, computer maintenance and armored truck service to remove cash from drivers license facilities are in jeopardy.
Alaska:
Shell's decision to quit drilling off-shore Alaska is a disaster for the state of Alaska; September 29, 2015.
Alaska:
special session called to start moving on natural gas pipeline, September 24, 2015:
“With a $3.5 billion (state) budget deficit, this gas line project
has gone from a wish-list item to a must-have,” Walker said. “It is time
to make the necessary legislative changes so a single party cannot
delay the production of Alaska’s natural gas resources and sway our
destiny.”
The proposed $45 billion to $65 billion liquefied
natural gas project is still in a phase of preliminary engineering and
design, with no decision by its partners on whether to build it.
Pennsylvania:
budget impasse, summer 2015; affecting start of school - September 2, 2015.
California:
California and its dependency on its in-state dying oil and gas industry - posted September 2, 2015.
Connecticut:
GE looking at leaving the state (moving corporate headquarters). Taxes simply too high. [Update: GE said it won't move to Texas; looks like it was a scare to get Connecticut to give GE more tax breaks - posted September 2, 2015.]
Illinois: 2013 bill to "solve" the pension problem has been
ruled unconstitutional by the Illinois Supreme Court. Things just got tougher in Illinois.
Wisconsin:
will miss it's $100 million interest payment .. but that's a good thing. LOL.
Connecticut: Super-rich looking to move out of state.
Illinois, California, Pennsylvania: these three states may be in the most trouble.
Illinois has a huge pension problem.
California is losing more and more jobs;
oil industry in trouble. Pennsylvania with huge deficit, but worse: they just elected a Democrat governor. February 3, 2015.
Pennsylvania:
a $2 billion deficit, and they have just elected a Democrat for governor.
January 24, 2015.
California:
the end of the oil and gas industry in California? January 15, 2015.
California and Nevada:
food stamp outliers. January 9, 2015 PDF.
The percent change was most interesting: both California and Nevada were
outliers by a large margin. Most states showed a decrease in number of
folks on food stamps. Not only did California and Nevada show an
increase, it was a huge increase, close to 10%.
Illinois:
applications for food stamps in Illinois is greater than its creation of jobs. September 16, 2014.
New Jersey: creditworthiness is downgraded 2nd time in one year.
Billion state pension underfunded by nearly $40 billion. September 5, 2014.
Illinois:
Chicago workers protest as pension crisis brews. February 19, 2014.
California:
a $71 billion teacher's pension shortfall, and the shortfall is growing by $22 million every day ($8 billion/year).
New Jersey: in the category of those states with best business climate, New Jersey, led by RINO Chris Christie,
drops to 42nd in 2013; after plunging to 41st in 2012; from 30th in 2011. with a
corporate income tax rate of 9 percent on top of soaring property taxes, New Jersey has one
of the highest tax burdens in the country.
Cost of electricity, commercial: 12 cents/kwh in New Jersey; just 8 cents/kwh in North Dakota. -- July 14, 2013
North Carolina:
first state to lose Federal jobless funds.
Illinois:
The Illinois legislature delayed a pension vote due to deadlock.
Gov. Pat Quinn, a Democrat, has called the legislature back into session
for Wednesday after members failed last month to pass a plan to fix a
$96.8 billion shortfall in the state retirement system after more than
two years of debate. The lack of action on the shortfall has caused
Illinois's credit rating to fall to the lowest among U.S. states.
Illinois:
Illinois fails (again) to reform pension program; Fitch cuts rating for Illinois.
While investors receive timely payments, Illinois faces
about $6 billion in unpaid bills, Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka
said last month. Lawmakers in April considered chipping away at
the backlog with a $2.5 billion bond sale.
California: apparently out of trouble. I don't understand how they got out of trouble (so quickly); something seems fishy. April 2, 2013.
Illinois: resumes bond sale as the worse-rated US state. April 2, 2013.
California: sounds like the US Post Office problem.
The LA Times is reporting that California legislators recently discovered the state needs to come up with $4.5 billion/year -- that's $4.5 billion every year -- to fully fund public teacher pensions:
For years, problems with California's pension fund for teachers and school employees have been growing. Now a new report
says the fund needs an additional $4.5 billion every year -- more than
Sacramento spends on both university systems combined -- to stay above
water.
Senate leader Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) told reporters on Thursday that lawmakers can't ignore the growing costs.
"This is a serious issue," he said. "We have to address it."
Well, duh. Serious issue. More than Sacramento spends on the University of California system and the California State University system every year. Yes, it sounds a bit serious. March 21, 2013.
Illinois: go down this page and see how serious Illinois' problem is, and then read
the Reuters article:
The Illinois House of
Representatives on Thursday dealt a setback to efforts to reform
the worst-funded state pension system in the nation, soundly
defeating several proposals to make substantial changes
affecting public sector workers. Illinois has the worst-funded state pensions system in the
nation, at only 39 percent, when 80 percent is considered
healthy. And note below: Illinois can't even sell bonds. February 28, 2013.
Virginia: bump in the road?
Budget shortfall this year of $473 million; will "cover it" by delaying property tax refunds into next fiscal year. February 26, 2013.
Illinois: in a very rare move,
Illinois "yanked" bonds after they realized expectations would not be met, January 31, 2013.
Illinois: credit rating downgraded to A-. Worse credit rating among US states, January 25, 2013.
California: wow! Talk about
smoke and mirrors in the statehouse.
California: state's payroll automated system about ready to implode.
One of the state's biggest technology endeavors, a $371-million
overhaul of the government payroll system, is beset with problems and
"in danger of collapsing," according to the state controller's office.
The company hired for the project is in over its head and may be
unable to deliver on its promise to update a payroll system so old that
even simple salary adjustments can tie it in knots, the controller's
chief administrative officer said in a letter.
California: any wonder that California is broke?
The numbers are even larger in California, where a state psychiatrist
was paid $822,000, a highway patrol officer collected $484,000 in pay
and pension benefits and 17 employees got checks of more than $200,000
for unused vacation and leave. The best-paid staff in other states
earned far less for the same work, according to the data.
Minnesota: state announces a $1 billion deficit; deficit will be worse if "we" go over the ObamaCliff; immediately after the announcement state employees union says taxes need to be increased; this story is so full of internal inconsistencies one wonders if anyone even listens to what they say any more; December 5, 2012
Massachusetts: first time on the list. Kind of looks like Illinois, right now. Cue up Connie Francis.
Boston Globe: the state of Massachusetts is in trouble, going into 2013, November 25, 2012
Facing weaker than expected state tax revenues, Governor Deval
Patrick’s administration has curbed state hiring, halted an automatic
income tax reduction, and begun identifying cuts in spending that may be
necessary to balance the budget.
Recent tax collections have been unexpectedly disappointing, failing
to measure up to last year’s levels. In October, revenues were $162
million short of budgetary estimates and $48 million below the level
reached in October 2011.
State revenues are running $256 million behind budget and $33 million behind last year’s actual collection, officials said.
Buffett: exits the municipal bond market; sees defaults coming. August 21, 2012.
California: scrambling to pay bills with more borrowing; when you look at the numbers at the link, it is downright scary. The
LA Times says the state will raise taxes when voted upon in November. We will see. The comments are priceless. August 13, 2012.
California: Facebook implodes; huge loss for California. Actually I find it incredible that a state the size of California was counting on tax revenue from one company to make up its deficit. August 1, 2012.
California: assumptions = "smoke and mirrors." Too big to fail? The folks are betting on these assumptions: a) windfall in federal estate taxes (won't happen); b) voters will pass $8 billion in new taxes this fall (don't hold your breath); c) $1 billion in money from counties defunct redevelopment agencies will pan out (probably not); and, d) Facebook stock will provide huge win (probably not this year, if ever)
. The biggest assumption not mentioned in the article: California is "too big to fail. " Current deficit is around $16 billion. July, 2012. [
Update, November 7, 2012, amazingly, the citizens
overwhelmingly passed the referendum to increase taxes.]
California: it may be worse than we are being told. June 12, 2012.
California: record number of California school districts facing bankruptcy this year. But the state presses on with bullet train to nowhere. May 21, 2012.
California: Jerry Brown says it's worse than I was told! $16 billion vs $9 billion. May 12, 2012.
Illinois: is broke. WSJ, April 28-29, 2012. Pension costs will break Illinois, other states. Caterpillar made decision not to locate new plant in Illinois due to property taxes, health costs, yada, yada, yada. April 29, 2012.
California, Illinois, and New Jersey: three states in most trouble, according to Meredith Whitney. April 26, 2012.
Minnesota, Connecticut: seldom do I get a chance to find a "twofer." Two states, tied for biggest budget shortfall:
Let’s not forget that Minnesota is tied with Connecticut among states with the biggest budget shortfalls ($3.8 billion).
California: will run out of cash in early March without swift action; short $3.3 billion; lawmakers surprised -- had been under impression enough cash to get them through fiscal year ending in June; you will remember that Governor Brown recently fired anti-oil bureaucrats; desperately needs cash; my hunch -- band-aid fix to get them through April 15; January 31, 2012
California: higher education slashed; worse to come around the corner -- $13 billion shortfall next year starting January, 2012; even if Californians approve $7 billion increase in taxes, still facing dire cuts, December 13, 2011
Rhode Island: huge pension problem;
worse in the nation per capita, September 19, 2011.
Minnesota: S&P could cut Minnesota's credit rating, August 28, 2011.
All states: debt ceiling cut backs could have huge impact on states. July 31, 2011.
Rhode Island: third highest unemployment in the US, behind Nevada and California. One wonders how a little state with great coastline opportunities could let this happen. Tragic. July 31, 2011.
Florida: $4 billion deficit;
1,600 state employees laid off Friday; another 562,000 begin paying into pension plan for first time in 37 years; July 1, 2011.
Washington State: closes tourism office; saves $2 million; faces $5.2 billion budget deficit; only state with no tourism office; Colorado
lost one-third of overnight visitors after its tourism office closed from 1993 to 2000, calling that decision "an incredible economic travesty." Is $2 million/$5.2 billion = 0.03 percent? Well, it's a start. July 1, 2011.
Minnesota: state goes dark tonight, June 30, 2011; can't balance budget; $5 billion shortfall; biggest concern -- the state's two horse racing tracks would close.
Kentucky: #1 state with worst pension fund status. #2 -- Illinois. Top ten listed by
WSJ.
California: in deeper doo-doo than Michigan.
Michigan: Governor ready to sign bill giving state emergency powers over cities and school districts facing bankruptcy. Unions will probably take case to state supreme court. March 13, 2011.
Minnesota:
Budget deficit 7th worse in the US. $5 billion deficit exceeds Wisconsin's $3.6 billion. March 13, 2011. [Note: July 1, 2011 -- state shuts down -- see above.]
California: Debt repayment of $8 billion will be a quarter of the state's deficit. This is more than what the state will budget for its prized university system. February 26, 2011.
California: Ready to require 30 percent of power to come from renewable energy sources by 2020. This will end up costing California more than they can afford. If my blog is still going ten years from now, it will be interesting to see how this plays out. It appears Californians don't mind paying more for their energy. February 25, 2011.
California: The state may have to start issuing IOUs as early as April; they could delay state tax refunds. January 21, 2011.
North Dakota: Retirement plans for teachers (TFFR) and retirement plans for non-classified state employees are under pressure. There is a move to have new employees enrolled in a defined contribution plan much like a 401(k). Funds for both pension plans will run out in 2030 - 2040 time frame without changes now. Moving new employees from current pension plans to a defined contribution plan would result in the current pension funds running out of money sooner due to less money coming in now (sort of like a Ponzi scheme, as it were). The link will be broken soon; it's a link to a regional newspaper. [By the way, they keep using the canard that state employees could earn 15 percent more in the private sector but they stay with the state because of the retirement plan. Let's test that theory. Drop the current pension plans, establish the defined contribution plans, and let's see how many folks walk away. January 22, 2011.
California: Governor declares emergency over budget / deficit. Legislators ignore his declaration. Wow. January 21, 2011.
California: Boeing plant in Long Beach will most likely close down completely next year; laying off 900 now. C-17 sales diminishing. But is there more to it? At same time,
Governor Brown "pleading" for help from cities to balance state budget. Not gonna happen. January 19, 2011. [I was right: did not happen.
Obama stepped in and saved the plant. All of a sudden, AF generals saw the light. March, 2011.]
All states: 2011 --
toughest year yet for states. Along with that story, another little nugget: the
states owe the Federal government $1.3 billion this year for money to pay for unemployment benefits. January 17, 2011. By the way,
this is a nice article from the Minnesota-based Fed in 2006 explaining how we got where we are: when times were flush, benefits were increased. Folks assumed the good times would go on forever, and/or uninterrupted.
Illinois: Wow, this is dire. "Massive tax increases," including person income tax up 66 percent and corporate income tax up to 7 percent, from 4.6 percent. The best line (in an earlier story) was this: "The state's income tax rates have not risen since 1989." Why should they rise at all. How about cutting some spending. They agree to borrow $4 billion to pay for pensions, but refused to borrow $9 billion to pay for current bills owed. They also tabled raising cigarette taxes from a buck to two bucks. Hmmm. January 11, 2011.
California: $25 billion headache for new governor; must deal with crisis by June 30, 2011. January 10, 2011.
Illinois:
Days to resolve a $13 billion deficit. The two US states in the most financial trouble are California and Illinois. It is actually costing Illinois more than California to insure against default. January 3, 2011.
California: Schwarzenegger declares a fiscal emergency; calls on legislature to come up with $9.9 billion in budget cuts. December 6, 2010.
California: bond sales met with tepid demand. Not a good sign. November 18, 2010.
Texas: first time on this page! Always under the radar, but now it's getting serious:
possibly $25 billion in debt; public education accounts for 55% of the budget. No income tax; would require change in constitution; ain't gonna happen.
November 10, 2010.
California: ready to launch $14 billion in debt sales; will be $25 billion in debt by mid-2012. November 10, 2010.
California: the state is now
$8.6 billion in debt and borrowing $40 million/day to pay for unemployment benefits. November 7, 2010. [November 9, 2010, two days later: the debt is
now estimated to be $10.3 billion.]
Illinois: first state to run out of money (pension fund), 2018. The next to fall: Connecticut (2019), Indiana (2019), New Jersey (2019), Hawaii (2020), Louisiana (2020), Oklahoma (2020), Colorado (2020), Kansas (2022), Kentucky (2022), New Hampshire (2022). The bill for Illinois the following year (2019): $14 billion; Connecticut (2020): $4.9 billion; and, Indiana (2020): $3.6 billion.
California: Finally some sanity --
high court upholds governor-ordered furloughs.
California: The state is in arrears for $6.3 billion for unpaid bills from July, August, September; and is now
unlikely able to pay $2.9 billion in bills that will come due in October without a budget. The comptroller put this information on his website today. It should be noted that the comptroller refused to execute the governor's plan to save state money through mandated furloughs. The comptroller said the computer system could not manage such a change. October 1, 2010.
California: Payday loan required by the state to stay solvent. September 27, 2010.
California: State
approaches 85-day impasse; will set new record. No vote set on budget. September 22, 2010.
California: State misses payment to public schools to save cash due to budget impasse. State weeks away from issuing IOUs. August 23, 2010.
Connecticut: the state treasurer says the state may have just
one week's worth of cash. August 19, 2010.
California: August, 2010 -- no spending plan; no serious discussion; bills piling up; waiting for Godot. July 28, 2010.
Illinois: Worst off in the nation -- $12.1 billion deficit; $5.0 billion in bills it can't pay right now. It cannot grow itself out of its problem. This is the administration's home state. Can anyone spell "bailout"?
Califorinia: The
budget deficit and solutions to solve it are worse than ever, but this story, in a well-respected newspaper, suggests a fantasyland optimism. The state is short $19.1 billion and with creative financing can eliminate $3 - $4 billion and opine that the economy will be better next year. By the way: how does the state eliminate $4 billion in deficit; return some state responsibilities back to the counties. The state looks financially better off but the taxpayer doesn't. June 23, 2010.
California: largest pension fund will take $700 million from schools. Seniors stealing candy from babies. Why does this not surprise me: seniors vote; babies don't.
New York: The Roman Circus begins. New York state government could close next week. Just for a few days. Obama will bail the state out. June 10, 2010.
Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania and 29 other states in deep trouble because they "pencilled" in Medicaid money from federal government; now they can't count on it. Don't worry: Pelosi, Reid, and Obama won't let the states down in an election year. June 7, 2010.
Connecticut: For the second year in a row, the "wealthiest" state (per capita income),
will borrow nearly $1 billion to cover a budget gap. Credit rating has been lowered from AAA to AA+. June 4, 2010.
New York: "delayed" paying $2.5 billion to stay afloat, but cash crunch could get even worse in August and September. Budget yet to pass; currently NY has a $9.2 billion deficit which increases daily as budget is delayed. The article does not note that tax revenue for the year peaks in April when taxes are due
. June 2, 2010. Comment: only $9.2 billion? Chump change. Obama administration will bail the state out with more interest-free loans in guise of stimulus.
June 2, 2010.
Colorado:
Unemployment coffers insolvent; borrowing massively from feds; businesses will see increased unemployment taxes. May 21, 2010.
Illinois:
Poster child for pension liabilities. With financial year 2011 less than six weeks away, the pension arrears for Illinois look daunting. The state faces unfunded liabilities of about $78bn, the biggest pension hole in the US, and contributions of more than $4bn for 2011, the largest single element of its $13bn budget deficit. The state has a two-point plan for resolving the deficit: a) delay acting on the problem during an election year; and, b) asking for a Federal government bailout. Because Illinois is the president's home state, this seems as good a plan as any. May 20, 2010.
California:
how bad is the deficit in California: California faces an estimated $18.6-billion shortfall, which amounts to roughly 20% of its general fund spending. Without raising taxes, balancing the budget would require cutbacks equivalent to releasing every prisoner in the state, closing state prisons and cutting off all funding for the University of California and California State University systems. May 14, 2010.
California: revenue in April (when income-tax payments are due),
trailed estimates by $3.6 billion (26%) -- yes, the recession in California is worse than the state wants to acknowledge -- wiping out gains from the previous four months, leaving collections $1.3 billion behind projections for the budget year that ends in June, 2010. The state faces an $18.6 billion budget deficit through June, 2011. May 11, 2010.
California: unemployment rate hit
a modern record of 12.6 percent in March.
California:
last auto plant in California closes its doors. Health care costs, taxes, "green" energy finally did them in. April 1, 2010.
Florida: new unemployment record -- 12.2% unemployed in February, 2010; almost at the predicted rate for this summer: 12.3%. And now these states will start looking at paying for health care for these unemployed. March 26, 2010.
New York State:
Governor Paterson has put on hold $500 million in state refund checks; won't start mailing them again until after April 1. $1.5 billion in school aid may be next. March 17, 2010.
California: For JPMorgan,
California is a bigger risk than Greece. February 28, 2010.
Illinois:
needs $4.7 billion stay afloat. March 10, 2010.
And even with the load, this is what the budget could do: cost some 13,000 teachers and staff their jobs, cut off poor seniors from help in paying for costly prescriptions and shut down some health care programs for the indigent. But even after about $2 billion in cuts, the state would still be $11 billion in the hole.
Illinois: pending $12.8 billion deficit. Residents could be facing unprecedented personal income tax increases. February 24, 2010.