ATLANTA (AP) – With budget deadlines looming for nearly all states, disagreements over closing deficits or expanding Medicaid are forcing several legislatures to extend their sessions.
The number of states in which lawmakers and governors are at odds over budget problems pales in comparison to those dealing with red ink during the Great Recession. But it serves as a cautionary note during a year in which the national economy is at its healthiest since the recovery began.
Legislative special sessions are underway in Alaska, Florida, Illinois and Washington, and a number of other states facing significant shortfalls are struggling to figure out how they will meet their constitutional requirements to balance their budgets. Forty-five states begin the next fiscal year on July 1 and must have their operating plans in place by then.
Describing late budgets as “summer cliffhangers no one wants to see,” credit analyst Gabriel Petek with Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services said recently he expects most states will pass budgets before the June 30 deadline and avoid the prospect of a state having to shut down any government functions.
“A handful of states, however, continue to grapple with large projected budget gaps or still have major policy issues to resolve,” Petek wrote in a recent report. “This doesn’t necessarily mean these states won’t have budgets in hand by the start of the new fiscal year. But the significance of what remains unresolved does raise the specter that in at least a few of them, budget adoption could be late.”