…that California is trying to figure out what to do with a $45B state revenue surplus, which is (calculating, calculating…) $1154 per person.

Around here, MN projected a nearly $8B surplus back in November, which is $1365 per person. These things are always a little fluid, and there is some uncertainty about future growth, but tax collections are actually running ahead of this estimate, by another $360M.

Republicans in the state are claiming it as their own, and say we cannot endure another 3 years of the Biden economy.

it's nice to have a big surplus, but I'm still stunned when I see homeless encampments in all kinds of places that never existed before.

Things are bad imo

Quote
hal
it's nice to have a big surplus, but I'm still stunned when I see homeless encampments in all kinds of places that never existed before.

Things are bad imo

What state are you in?

Also, I should mention that apparently last years surplus in Cali was even larger, and that the MN surplus is a projected 2-year surplus (which is how they do the planning around here).

Quote
pdq
$1154 per person.

But it wouldn't be fair to divide it evenly.

If you make more money, you should get more money.

It's just common sense (or cents).

How did California dig itself out of its hole?

Quote
Dennis S
How did California dig itself out of its hole?

Jerry Brown happened at the right time.

---

e pluribus unum

How much of that revenue surplus is accounted for by federal subsidies during the pandemic and new spending bills?

---

g=

Newsom has proposed using a portion to fund Medicaid for all including the undocumented. Wait til the right wing zeros in on that.

Quote
pdq

Quote
hal
it's nice to have a big surplus, but I'm still stunned when I see homeless encampments in all kinds of places that never existed before.

Things are bad imo

What state are you in?

I'm in Sacramento - been here a long time

Not to burst a bubble, but nearly every state has a budget surplus due to federal payments.

"Yet governors in most states whether their pandemic interventions were aggressive, lax or (like Minnesota) somewhere in the middle can point to similar economic numbers. And other state legislatures are now also deciding what to do with large surpluses. Both tax cuts and spending on areas such as education and health care are being considered everywhere from California (with a $31 billion surplus) to Iowa ($1.4 billion).

Those surpluses come after states have refilled and added money to their rainy day savings accounts, often set up to be spent only when tax collections fall precipitously in recessions. “After a one-year dip, states’ combined fiscal cushion … was expected to spring back and exceed pre-pandemic highs by the state of the budget year,” the Pew state fiscal health project reported in October. "

[www.minnpost.com]

Quote
Lemon Drop
Not to burst a bubble, but nearly every state has a budget surplus due to federal payments.

But it is only the blue states that are having difficulty spending it ethically

---

“No persons are more frequently wrong, than those who will not admit they are wrong.” -- François de La Rochefoucauld

"Those who cannot accept the past are condemned to revise it." -- Geo. Mathias

Related L.A. Times article appearing in today's paper: [www.latimes.com]

---

It is what it is.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/12/2022 05:53PM by N-OS X-tasy!.

I could think of plenty of ways to spend it, not on me, but for things for the state/city/counties.

Infrastructure. the whole state needs a good cleaning. trash pickup. prisons and prisoners. schools. sure homeless something (although homeless prrgorams are usually flush with $). long list

All he has to do is ask every county what they want/need and then "you get a car and you get a car everyone gets a car!" spend it.

---

Edited 999 time(s). Last edit at 12:08PM by jdc.

I got no problem with fattening a rainy day fund. The cycle between budget bust and surplus is relentless.

---

Indiana is talking about a $125 payout to taxpayers this spring due to the surplus. Not enough to replace my aged iPad, but might be a good start on a fund for same.

Quote
gabester
How much of that revenue surplus is accounted for by federal subsidies during the pandemic and new spending bills?

A good question. In terms of direct payments to states, apparently not that much. But…

Quote

The federal spending has helped states on both the spending and revenue sides of the ledger. First, the grants covered costs that states might have otherwise borne, such as for Medicaid coverage, public health interventions and business help. Then the billions in cash sent to residents and businesses found their way into tax collections through income and sales taxes.

Which is to say, the biggest share appears to be from the economic growth since the initial dark days of the pandemic, continuing through to now. Federal money ended up in state tax receipts after passing thru the individuals and businesses that were financially saved.

And it wasn’t just my state, or California. In fact,

Quote

Minnesota is one of 47 states that posted year-over-year gains [in tax revenue] and is one of 45 states to have returned to their pre-pandemic levels by the end of the second quarter of 2021…

You can assign credit to whoever you want; and we are dealing with inflation largely due to the rapid recovery, and the national debt is up…but the fact is, less than two years after the pandemic threatened to crush the economy, things look pretty good.

BTW,

Quote

Jan 12 (Reuters) - The U.S. government posted a $21 billion budget deficit for December 2021, the smallest monthly gap in two years as individual income tax receipts surged with increased employment, the Treasury Department said on Wednesday.

The December deficit was 85% lower than the year-ago deficit of $144 billion, and was the smallest since December 2019… There would have actually been a surplus last month if not for calendar quirks that required some government benefit payments for January to be paid in December.

Economists believe that with the COVID spending winding down, this year's deficit will be about half the size of the 2021 shortfall.

When was the last time the annual federal deficit was cut in half in one year under a Republican administration?

Bueller? Bueller?

Georgia is apparently swimming in extra money ($2.2 billion). Kemp has proposed sending it back to taxpayers at $250 each after April. Of course, he's trying to keep his job with Purdue hot on his tail with a proposal to eliminate the state income tax.

[www.usnews.com]