William Pound, Exec. Director of NCSL, to address House Finance Committee

Photo: Courtesy of NCSL. William Pound, Exec. Dir. and Carl Tubbesing, Deputy Director


WHAT: Mr. William Pound, Executive Director of the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), will provide an update to the House Finance Committee on:

· Current fiscal conditions of all of the states
· Strategies being employed to meet budget shortfalls across the country
· Status of the proposed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

WHEN: Thursday, February 12, 2009 – 1:30 p.m.

WHERE: Hawaii State Capitol – Conference Room 308

NCSL reports:

“The latest news on state budgets reveals the severity of the current situation. For both FY2009 and FY2010, more states are reporting budget problems, and the size of the gaps has increased.

Even though some states have taken corrective actions, the current FY2009 gap still stands at $47.4 billion. This is on top of the $40.3 billion shortfall already closed for this fiscal year.

Next year’s projected gap is staggering as well. As states prepare to craft their FY2010 budgets, the imbalance is pegged at $84.3 billion, up from $64.7 billion in November.”

Statement from William T. Pound:

“The proposed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act could provide more than $300 billion in aid to states. These funds will help lower, but will not erase, state budget shortfalls. State lawmakers still face enormous challenges as they take on the mandatory task of balancing their budgets.”