By Jorge Campos |Staff Writer|
Nearly 50 percent of America expects gaps in state budgets as a result of recent the lean U.S. economic activity.
An analysis of statehouse finance around the country shows that at least 22 states project shortfalls for the coming fiscal year, according to the Associated Press.
The shortage recalls the depression era anxiety about reducing the tax revenue and deep cuts to education, social services and other government-funded programs.
Other states have been hurt by a steep decline in oil prices or have seen their efforts to promote growth through tax cuts fail to work as anticipated, according to The Huffington Post.
The result would separate the nations between states such as California and Colorado, which are riding a wave of economic recovery and others such as Illinois and Pennsylvania are closer to an economical decline, according to the Associated Press.
Alabama, for example, faces a $290-million loss after a voter-approved bailout expires at the end of the current fiscal year, according to The Huffington Post.
“The expected budget cuts could create a $27 million hole in the state’s court system, forcing more than 600 layoffs and leaving only one juvenile probation officer and two clerical staffers in each county,” stated
Administrative Director for the Alabama Unified Judicial System Rich Hobson.
“If nothing is done, the courts will not have the staff to send jury notices, monitor juvenile delinquents, process protection orders and collect and distribute child support payments,” stated Hobson.
To avoid cuts, Republican Gov. Robert Bentley proposed raising $541 million through increases in tobacco and automobile taxes, according to The Huffington Post.
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