Citing the "fragile aftermath of the Great Recession." the Executive Director of the the state
Economic and Revenue Forecast Council delivered some bad news today: the revenue forecast is now $1.8 billion less than it was when the 2011-13 was written just months ago. And,
Dr. Arun Raha continued, it doesn't look like things will turn around any time soon.
Dr. Raha made these points during his presentation:
• Every time our state has looked like it would break out of the malaise, it has been sucked right back in.
• The gridlock in Washington DC and the instability of the European markets are affecting our recovery.
• It appears that we are at best in for an extended period of muddle-through – slow economic and job growth, high unemployment, and weak confidence. The risk of a double-dip recession too has increased.
• Consumer confidence is headed back down, as are sales expectations and small business optimism.
Representative Ross Hunter, chair of the House Ways and Means Committee and a member of ERFC, noted that budget leaders are already combing through the budget again. "This is a serious problem and it demands a serious response," he said. " We're working on that response now, and we have months of work still ahead of us. I am ready to work with all members to solve this problem."
The full ERFC report can be found
here.
