State revenue down 10 percent in June, 12.5 percent over last 12 months
July 10, 2009State general fund revenues for June 2009 were 10 percent ($71.7 million) lower than revenues for June 2008, state Comptroller Richard Eckstrom announced today. General fund revenues were down 12.5 percent ($828.0 million) for the last twelve months.
Individual income tax revenue in June was down 10.1 percent ($36.8 million) compared to corresponding revenues for the previous June, and off 15.4 percent ($512.6 million) for the year.
Sales tax revenue in June 2009 decreased 6.7 percent ($13.8 million) compared to June 2008 sales taxes, and off 8.5 percent ($190.5 million) for the year.
Eckstrom issued the following statement:
“This trend continues to underscore the need to step back and take a good, hard look at government spending, and renew the discussion of spending caps so that the growth of government never again outpaces our ability to pay for it. We should commit to the idea of setting priorities and funding only those things that are essential functions of government. We’d also do well not to use so-called ‘stimulus’ money as an excuse to keep from eliminating unnecessary spending.
“While everyone wants to see our economy improve, these revenue numbers indicate that it’s just not happening, even months after the president’s trillion-dollar stimulus-spending bill. State and national unemployment rates keep climbing higher, so there’s certainly no evidence that jobs are being created or saved through the massive deficit spending that’s occurring in government.
“The White House has used the economic crisis to dramatically grow government. The $787 billion stimulus bill, while giving our children and grandchildren tremendous debt, has not had the job-creating effect the president said it would.
“The president told us Congress must pass the stimulus immediately to keep the unemployment rate, which was at 7.6 percent, below eight percent. Since then, the national unemployment rate has ballooned 24 percent, and our state’s unemployment rate has grown 17 percent.
“Now, some in Washington are talking about yet another stimulus, once again saying it would jump-start our economy. We’ve heard that before. In truth, that’s a strategy for expanding government, not growing the economy. If the White House and Congress want to continue to increase spending in the face of record deficits and continue to grow government, they should not do it under the pretense of economic recovery.”