Free Republic

The last time state economists released revenue forecasts, New Mexico had a massive oil boom with no end in sight. Oh, how times have changed. Those same economists released dire revenue projections on Wednesday, suggesting New Mexico could take in between $1.7 billion and $2.4 billion less than originally expected during the next fiscal year as the novel coronavirus pandemic and plummeting oil prices take a major toll on tax revenue and royalty payments. “The outbreak of the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19, along with the global responses to contain the spread of the virus, places significant strain on New...

Louisiana’s tax and fee collections dropped $494 million – 42.7% – in April when compared to the same month last year. A Department of Revenue report circulated among state government leaders Wednesday night gives budget architects a first look at the actual receipts for the time that Louisiana stayed at home while businesses and institutions shut down to stem the community spread of the coronavirus. Louisiana net receipts report for April Louisiana net receipts report for April Gov. John Bel Edwards issued “stay at home” orders beginning March 16. Fiscal leaders warned that without shops open, customers hunkering down and...

California finance officials just revealed a $54.3 billion deficit in the first economic assessment of the coronavirus pandemic's devastating blow to the fifth-largest economy in the world. That figure is higher than the deficit during the Great Recession and obliterates the state's once-healthy reserves. Without sugar-coating how hard the prolonged shutdown of businesses and job losses will hit the state, Gov. Gavin Newsom's administration released bleak projections on key statewide indicators: 18% unemployment rate for the year, 21% drop in new housing permits and nearly 9% decline in California personal income. All this signals a financial tsunami and cuts to...

Ohio University laid off three professors from the gender and race studies departments this week in response to financial burdens imposed by the Chinese virus pandemic. Ohio University also fired 140 unionized employees who worked in the university’s custodial, groundskeeping, and maintenance departments...The university has already been criticized for its decision to lay off faculty from the gender and race studies departments. Ohio University political science professor Kirstine Taylor wrote in a viral tweet that she was “heart-sick” over the university’s decision...

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Gov. Mike DeWine said Tuesday the state will cut nearly $800 million in spending — most affecting education and health care — to offset the loss of tax revenue stemming from the coronavirus crisis. The cuts include a $300 million reduction in K-12 public-school funding, $210 million from Medicaid spending and $110 million from college and university funding, DeWine said. DeWine said all state government agencies will see their budgets cut, adding up to $100 million, except for the state Department of Corrections, which operates state prisons. As recently as the end of February, the state was...

AKRON, Ohio – University of Akron President Gary Miller said in a video message Monday that the university’s plan to offset $65 to $70 million in decreased revenue due to the coronavirus pandemic includes cutting six of its 11 colleges. Miller did not identify which five colleges would remain, but said newly appointed Executive Vice President and Provost John Wiencek would make that announcement in the “coming days.”...The university’s 11 colleges and schools include the Buchtel College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Applied Science and Technology, the College of Business Administration, the College of Engineering, the College of...

Citing “hundreds of millions of dollars” in losses, Penn State University will cut program budgets, furlough 2,000 employees at half pay, and president Eric Barron will return 10% of his monthly salary amid what he called “unprecedented” times. Further furloughs and layoffs are possibilities in the new fiscal year, he said, as Penn State faces $160 million in lost tuition revenue from likely enrollment declines, on top of more than $100 million in room and board refunds and other costs since March associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Neither Mr. Barron’s video remarks nor a university statement specified the number of...

Across the country, state and local governments are clamoring for the federal government to rescue them from what could quickly become a fiscal catastrophe, saying that they may need in the ballpark of three-quarters of a trillion dollars as the coronavirus pandemic dries up many of their revenue sources. Though Democrats sought to include roughly $150 billion in funding to state and local governments in the latest coronavirus aid package, set to pass this week, it did not make it into the final bill. Already, Congress approved $150 billion in funding for state and local governments as part of earlier...

As part of ongoing efforts to avoid layoffs because of budget shortfalls caused by the coronavirus pandemic shutdown, National Public Radio is cutting executive pay, the New York Times reported Monday. NYT reported that NPR CEO John Lansing will take a 25% pay reduction, while other NPR executives will see cuts ranging from 10% to 15%. In an email sent to employees on Friday, Lansing wrote that the cuts became necessary because the nonprofit will see donations from major corporate sponsors drop by as much as $12 million to $15 million as a result of the coronavirus shutdown. “We do...

HOUSTON – Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner says the budget for Fiscal Year 2021, which begins in June, will be worse than the 2016 budget when the city saw its first deficit in its history. The reason: The severe economic impact from the coronavirus. Turner said the casualties will include five full classes of police cadets -- among others. “Employees will be furloughed,” Turner said in a daily press briefing. “Payments, for example, even to the Houston Zoo, will be deferred.” KPRC 2 spoke to Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo about the expected cancellation of next fiscal year’s cadet classes and...

The Great Recession forced state governments across the country to lay off or furlough millions of workers and cut services to everything from schools to parks, but some warn the coronavirus pandemic could cause even more economic pain. Predictions are that states could combine to face up to a $500 billion shortfall over the next few years without more federal aid as unemployment remains high and businesses shutter or struggle to regain their footing. In Georgia, collections from income and sales taxes — which provide most of the revenue that pays for the salaries of 200,000 teachers, university staffers and...

The president of the State Senate asked for $40 billion to help the pension system, fund unemployment insurance and aid hospitals and cities. Illinois needs more than $40 billion in relief from the federal government because of the coronavirus pandemic — including $10 billion to help bail out its beleaguered pension system, according to a letter the Illinois Senate president sent to members of Congress. The letter, sent this week by State Senator Don Harmon, also seeks a $15 billion grant to “stabilize the state’s budget,” $9.6 billion in direct aid to Illinois’s cities, $6 billion for the state’s unemployment...

SPRINGFIELD, Ill – Illinois is reporting 1,346 new cases over the last 24 hours and 80 additional deaths due to COVID-19. This brings the state totals to 24,593 cases and 948 deaths. Governor J.B. Pritzker focused much of his daily briefing on the financial impact of COVID-19 on the state. He said, “You don’t have to be an epidemiologist to see that the virus is going to hit our budget hard.” Illinois budget experts estimate that there will be a $2.7 billion shortfall of revenues for the rest of fiscal year 2020 and a $4.6 billion dollar shortfall for the...

MADISON, WI — COVID-19 and Gov. Tony Evers’ emergency orders have pummeled business and Wisconsin’s economy at large. As earlier dire pandemic projections improve, restive lawmakers and business leaders insist the social-distancing cure for the coronavirus may be deadlier than the disease — at least for Wisconsin’s failing economic health. Evers’ top jobs administrator, Department of Workforce Development Secretary Caleb Frostman underscored the problem Friday during a Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce COVID-19 teleconference update. Frostman laid out the woeful numbers: more than 313,000 total new applications for unemployment benefits between March 15 and April 6, with weekly claims hitting nearly...

Two weeks ago, President Donald Trump signed the largest stimulus bill in U.S. history: more than $2 trillion. For once, both Republicans and Democrats agreed. The Senate voted 96-0. The House didn't even bother with a formal vote. At the White House, a reporter asked the president, pointing out that the bill includes $25 million for the Kennedy Center, "Shouldn't that money be going to masks?" "The Kennedy Center has suffered greatly because nobody can go there," Trump responded. "They do need some funding. And look -- that was a Democrat request. That was not my request. But you got...

Shower thoughts: Shouldn't congress and staff take a 50% pay cut? And the White House. In fact, shouldn't *most* of the government take a pay cut?? If that is a bridge too far, perhaps every government employee making more than $150,000 take a 10% pay cut.

...The highlights so far: ONE-TIME CHECKS TO AMERICANS The measure would provide a quick, one-time stipend of about $1,200 per individual, $2,400 for couples, and $3,000 for family of four. The money would cut off at higher income levels. PAYCHECK SUPPORT An estimated $350 billion would be provided for small businesses to keep making payroll. Companies with 500 or fewer employees could tap up to $10 million each in forgivable small business loans to keep paychecks flowing. UNEMPLOYMENT EXPANSION Establishes a new, much more generous unemployment benefit by adding $600 per week to normal state benefits for up to four...

WASHINGTON - Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, is holding up the House-passed coronavirus relief bill and preventing it from being delivered to the Senate for a vote. The House was expected to make technical corrections Monday to the bipartisan measure, passed by the House early Saturday, but Gohmert is insisting on reading them, a Democratic leadership aide confirmed to NBC News on Monday. The technical corrections package has not yet been finalized and the House wants to pass it by unanimous consent because the House is on recess this week. If one member stands in opposition, the House can’t send the...

Last month, the Trump administration rolled out its Fiscal Year 2021 federal budget request—and progressive critics howled. “Trump’s budget is a $292 billion attack on poor Americans,” Mother Jones alleged. Vox accused Trump of cutting Medicare and Medicaid and lying about it. Kentucky Democratic representative John Yarmuth claimed that Trump was proposing “deep cuts to critical programs that help American families” and “destructive changes to Medicaid, SNAP, Social Security.” The anger was mostly hot air because, as National Review’s Robert VerBruggen notes, the budget is “an irrelevant document that mainly serves to give political journalists stuff to complain about.” It’s...

Senate Democrats plan to seek $8.5 billion in new federal funding to battle the coronavirus outbreak after condemning President Trump’s $2.5 billion request as inadequate. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer “is preparing a detailed Senate request” for the money, a top aide told the Washington Examiner. “Expect Schumer’s request to be finalized this morning and sent to appropriators,” the aide said. Democrats on Tuesday dismissed the Trump administration's $2.5 billion emergency funding request as far too low to prepare the nation to combat the virus in an adequate manner, given its spread in several countries. Democrats point out Congress appropriated...