Nonpartisan research and policy institute the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities is projecting a huge budget shortfall for Maine by the end of the next fiscal year.
In Maine, revenue losses will reach roughly $1.2 billion by June 30, 2021, the institute projects. Maine will likely face further losses in subsequent years, it said. The projection is based on an analysis by the liberal Maine Center for Economic Policy, it said.
Nationally, state budget shortfalls could total $650 billion over three years, it estimated, based on new economic projections from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and updated projections from Goldman Sachs.
The new figures – significantly higher than estimates the center issued based on economic projections a month ago – increase the urgency that policymakers enact additional federal fiscal relief and continue it as long as economic conditions warrant, it said.
“Without fiscal relief, states will be forced to lay off teachers and other workers, cut important services like health care and education, and take other actions that will ultimately make the recession and its recovery longer and more painful,” the center said in a statement.
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