Factbox: Beyond New Jersey and Maine, seven other states also have no budgets

[corbe]

Factbox: Beyond New Jersey and Maine, seven other states also have no budgets
  Mon Jul 3, 2017 | 6:15pm EDT
 
New Jersey and Maine are grabbing national attention for partial state government shutdowns over budget standoffs between governors and legislators but are not the only states to miss their deadlines for enacting annual spending plans.

In all, nine U.S. states have not yet passed budgets for the new fiscal year that kicked off for most states on July 1, a figure characterized as high by John Hicks, the executive director of the National Association of State Budget Officers.

Illinois, New Jersey, Maine, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Oregon, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin have not yet adopted a budget. Governors in New Jersey and Maine have taken the additional measure of imposing a partial government shutdown until a budget deal is reached.

Hicks cited lower than projected income tax and sales tax receipts as a main culprit for the larger-than-usual number of states with budgetary challenges this year. Pension liabilities and healthcare costs are also growing for states, he said.

The following lists key details on the nine states without budgets for the new fiscal year:

ILLINOIS

With Illinois entering its third fiscal year without a budget, state lawmakers are scrambling to pass a spending and revenue plan to avoid the state's credit rating being downgraded to junk. On Monday, the state House of Representatives passed a bill for the third and final piece of the fiscal 2018 budget, and the measures are pending in the Senate.
 
NEW JERSEY

New Jersey state parks, courts, beaches and other offices were closed on Monday in a partial government shutdown. Republican Governor Chris Christie wants to force nonprofit health insurer Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield to spend some of its billions of reserves on public drug addiction programs, but Democratic Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto has resisted the measure, which Christie has tied to the state budget.

MAINE

A budget standoff between Maine's Republican governor, Paul LePage, and Democratic lawmakers has shut down nonessential state services there. Negotiations over a $7 billion, two-year budget revolve around LePage's insistence on deep spending cuts instead of tax hikes.

CONNECTICUT

Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy, a Democrat, took emergency control of state spending amid political discord over how to close a $5.1 billion budget gap over the next two years. State offices are open, but funding to nonprofit social service agencies is slashed.

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(Reporting by Stephanie Kelly and Hilary Russ in New York; Editing by Dan Burns and Peter Cooney)

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-shutdowns-states-factbox-idUSKBN19O2L3?il=0

[Applewood]

In PA, the news media says the General Assembly passed a "budget."  But it's not a budget.  It's a list of items they want to spend money on.  If the Governor signs this so-called budget, then the legislature will figure out how to pay for all the stuff on the list. 

I don't know about the rest of you, but when I prepare a budget, I first look at how much money I have; then I figure out what to spend it on.  If I want something, but don't have the money for it, I don't buy it.

Of course, unlike us peons, the legislature figures it can always find a way to pay for things -- usually, by hitting up us poor taxpaying shlubs.  They think we are an infinite supply of cash they can squander as they see fit.

Mind you, the legislature is Republican controlled.  It proves the allegation that being Republican is not the same as being conservative.

[Gefn]

NJ and Maine announced this morning their budget crisis were over.

i.e.: passed.

I thank you @corbe for this article. Bookmarking it. Will read it in a few minutes. Just woke up I need my coffee first.

Happy 4th. 🇺🇸

[DCPatriot]

Looks like they've arrived at a place where Maggie Thatcher warned them:  running out of other peoples' money.