With Plummeting Revenues, State Should Impose a Temporary Tax Increase

Last month, economists estimated state revenues for fiscal 2021 will fall short of projections by $5 billion to $6 billion — a drop of nearly 20 percent. But the shortfall may be larger, since recent reports indicate that GDP has slowed more than expected, and more than one-fifth of the labor force is currently unemployed, working reduced hours, or had given up looking for work. Worse, revenues have plummeted exactly when more public spending is desperately needed to cover escalating public health costs and the greater demands on safety-net programs due to the coronavirus pandemic.