60 Minutes on State Budget Woes December 21, 2010 Joseph Bishop-Henchman Joseph Bishop-Henchman This 60 Minutes piece is a good overview of what states are facing now and going into 2011. Federal stimulus money is drying up with little appetite for another bailout; states grew their spending at a pace that has outstripped revenues; public employee benefits and pensions so generous as to be unsustainable, with backfilling stock market losses now being a big part of current state budget deficits; and Illinois sitting on 6 months of unpaid bills. Experts from all over the political spectrum have talked about the “new normal” for state budgets, and how state and local governments need to take a hard look at what they do and how they do it. The days of assuming 6 or 8 percent annual growth in spending are probably behind us. 14 minutes. Update: Unsuccessful at embedding it on our website. Check out the video here. Stay informed on the tax policies impacting you. Subscribe to get insights from our trusted experts delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe Share Tweet Share Email Topics Tags State Tax and Spending Policy