ONLY 9 STATES CONSISTENTLY RUN BUDGET DEFICITS

Key Points:

  • Lawmakers are contemplating providing financial assistance to state and local governments in the next stimulus bill.
  • Over the past decade, most states balanced budgets or ran surpluses. Some, however, did not.
  • The map shows how many annual budget deficits each state ran between 2004 and 2018.
  • Persistent deficits as well as unforeseeable events contribute to a state’s fiscal situation.
  • The data predate anything related to COVID-19 and 2018 is the most recent year for which comprehensive state budget data are available.