January 01, 2004
PUBLIC FINANCE > Budget > FY Pre-2008

State Budget '04: The Long Road Back

In its annual review of state spending, the Taxpayers Foundation concludes that the fiscal 2005 state budget will require a fourth year of significant spending cuts to help close a $1.1 to $1.4 billion budget gap. The report, State Budget '04: The Long Road Back, warns that despite the improving economic picture the Commonwealth has not yet resolved the huge mismatch between spending and revenues that has plagued the state's finances since 2001. The "perfect storm" of forces identified by the Foundation three years ago will continue to buffet the state's finances at least through fiscal 2005, making further spending cuts inevitable and precluding any expansion or restoration of programs that is not offset by reductions in other areas.