State Fiscal Crisis 101

With President Obama calling on Congress to extend Recovery Act assistance for states, here’s a set of graphics on:

• the causes of the wide gap between rising public needs during the recession and the resources available to states to meet them,
• the steps states have taken to balance their budgets,
• how the Recovery Act ’s health and education assistance has helped preserve jobs and protect the economy, and
• what will happen if Congress doesn’t extend fiscal relief.

As this graph shows, for example, states are facing a record decline in revenues due to the recession.

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Again, see the full set of graphics here.