Posted on 05/13/2025 9:53:21 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
G.O.P. leaders are exploring cuts to federal aid, leaving some states fearful that their budgets cannot absorb billions of dollars in new costs.
When Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland signs his state’s budget into law as soon as Tuesday, it will signify the end of a difficult saga in which local leaders cut spending and raised some fees just to close a larger-than-expected $3 billion deficit.
But Mr. Moore, a Democrat, is already bracing for the next fiscal fight. Maryland and its finances are highly influenced by the federal government, and the Trump administration is looking to cut vast swaths of the aid it sends to states.
“We just made in Maryland the largest cuts to our budget in 16 years,” Mr. Moore said in a recent interview, adding that the steep cuts being contemplated in Washington could quickly prove “deeply damaging.”
Across the country, state leaders are beginning to express alarm about the budgetary fallout from President Trump’s economic agenda, warning that they will not be able to pick up the bill if the federal government reduces its funding for major public services. To governors and other officials, many of whom are Democrats, the fear is that Washington could sharply curtail federal programs that help states improve their infrastructure, respond to natural disasters, expand education and provide a suite of health, housing and nutrition benefits to the poor.
Republicans have framed their thinking as a matter of fiscal necessity and federalism, arguing that states should shoulder more of the financial burden for their citizens at a time when the national debt exceeds $36 trillion. But Mr. Trump has made no secret about the fact that many of his preferred budget cuts are meant to help offset his costly and ever-expanding legislative ambitions, including his desire to cut taxes.
In recent...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Big lie. Govt revenue rose when the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act went into effect. Just like govt revenue increased with other tax cuts (i.e. Bush tax cuts, Reagan tax cuts, JFK tax cuts, and Coolidge tax cuts). Or another way to put it, the Laffer Curve is real.
The problem with all the states was making themselves welfare states to federal funding to start with it. State politicians teamed up their federal representatives to convince the money from the federal government was a gift. Having snookered the people that way, they raided the federal taxes to pay for all the “gifts” back to the states. With the federal gifts in hand, the states raised their own spending, and their own taxes.
The fact that they now have programs they cannot possibly fund on their own is a problem they created.
The fact that they now have programs they cannot possibly fund on their own is a problem they created.
LOL, now Prickster and Illinois have a real problem!
The states need to cut spending also.
My motto “Fix where you live”. These Cargo Cults are gonna learn a hard lesson either now or in the future.
Here’s a win-win answer. The feds impose numerous unfunded mandates on the states. Cut back on those.
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