State tax revenues plunge in record drop:
State tax collections were down by a record $63 billion for the fiscal year ended in June, which is roughly twice the amount states received during the year from the federal stimulus package, a new report (PDF) shows.
Total state tax collections from April through June dropped by 16.6 percent compared with the same period a year earlier and the worst since data was collected in 1963, the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government said in its latest analysis of Census tax data.
Double-digit declines were reported in 36 states for the second quarter. Alaska suffered the worst, with a drop-off of 86.5 percent due to the recent drop in oil prices, the report said. Vermont fared the best, with a 2.2 percent growth in tax revenues, primarily due to a one-time estate-tax settlement. South Dakota suffered a drop-off of only 0.8 percent in the second quarter.
The national economy and stock market may be rebounding, but Rockefeller said states can expect budget gaps for the next two years and possibly the next four.