More Warnings of State Budget Apocalypse

In a letter to the General Assembly leadership, state budget official Warren Deschenaux is predicting a $700 million budget deficit in FY 2010, a $1+ billion budget deficit in FY 2011 and an “underlying structural gap” of $2 billion. He declares, “The present course of State finances is plainly unsustainable.” In all likelihood, the state will be dealing with the worst of these problems when federal stimulus aid dries up. We reproduce Deschenaux’s letter below.