Maryland isn’t alone at facing down a bleak budget situation that will require difficult choices this year. Jennifer Steinhauer of The New York Times looks at how the national recession has hit state budgets:
“For many of the states, the new year spells the end to accounting maneuvers, one-off solutions, tax increases and service cuts that were as deep as lawmakers thought they could bear. And governors confront this situation in an election year in which dozens of their jobs are in play, and as many state legislators face their own election challenges.
“’A budget gap of 5 percent or 10 percent in any given year is a tough problem,’ said Corina Eckl, fiscal director at the National Conference of State Legislatures. ‘But we’re talking about gaps in excess of 20 percent over multiple years. The size of these gaps is staggering.’”
