WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- Budget shortfalls are looming larger in several U.S. states as the year draws to a close and revenues drop with the economic slowdown, officials said.
"The fiscal landscape is fundamentally altered from where it was six weeks ago," H.D. Palmer, a spokesman for the California Department of Finance told The New York Times Monday.
In California, a budget gap of $15 billion from two months ago has ballooned by an additional $11 billion, the Times reported.
Ohio may require a federal loan as unemployment costs have soared and Michigan is cutting back on street salting for the winter, the Times said.
Nevada is struggling with a big drop in sales tax revenue and New York Gov. David Paterson has proposed cutting the state budget $5.2 billion.
Reduced tax revenue and a sharp increase in costs related to rising unemployment have combined to increase shortfalls in many states, the Times said.
"Frankly, I thought 2001 was really awful. It's even worse now," said National Association of State Budget Officers Executive Director Scott Pattison.
