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FEATURED REPORT

State Finances

- February 26, 2021
Will essential services need to be cut?
Photo of a woman in a car receiving the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine in San Bernardino, California. (Getty Images/Los Angeles Times/Irfan Khan)
Tax collections have fallen in almost every state due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The damage has not been as severe as initially predicted last spring, when some feared that states would face their worst financial straits since the Great Depression. A rising stock market and high-income earners' ability to work remotely have mitigated the cash crunch.
Read the Full Report

Better Than Forecast

Cuts vs. Taxes

Read the Current Situation
 
1972–1986Washington provides aid to states, then reverses policy.
1991–2009States face fiscal pressures from rising education and pension costs.
2010–PresentStates face slow recoveries after the Great Recession and the pandemic-related downturn.
   
See more of the Chronology

Should Congress provide more aid to states?

Pro

Michael Leachman
Vice President, State Fiscal Policy, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Con

Jonathan Williams and Lee Schalk
Executive Vice President, Policy, and Chief Economist and Senior Director, Center for State Fiscal Reform, American Legislative Exchange Council.
Read the Pro/Con Debate

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Reports are published online 44 times a year. Click here to see the 2020 publication schedule.

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