State governments are reining in spending as early signs of an economic slowdown begin to impact revenue levels, according to a new report.
State spending grew by an estimated 4 percent in the fiscal year that ended in July, the National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO) found, 3 points lower than the previous fiscal year. The drop comes as growth of the two largest sources of state revenues slowed, and as federal money sent to states to bolster the economic recovery and healthcare spending trickled off.
States spent an estimated $1.93 trillion in 2016, the NASBO report found, up from $1.85 trillion in fiscal 2015 and $1.73 trillion in fiscal 2014.
California’s budget is the largest in the nation: The state spent $265 billion in the last fiscal year. New York spent $150 billion, and Texas spent $127 billion. South Dakota’s government spent just more than $4 billion, the lowest figure in the nation. Seven states — Rhode Island, Illinois, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Alaska, Nevada and Oregon — spent less in fiscal 2016 than they did in the previous fiscal year...
Read more at:
http://thehill.com/homenews/306406-states-slow-spending-growth-amid-early-signs-of-economic-slowdown
