U.S. State Revenue Fell 16% in Fiscal 2008, Census Bureau Says

From Bloomberg.com:

U.S. state government collections fell 16 percent to almost $1.7 trillion in fiscal 2008 from a year earlier, while spending increased 6.2 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The biggest drop came in so-called insurance trust revenue, which slid $377.7 billion, or 73 percent, the federal agency reported today. Such funds include public employee retirement systems, unemployment compensation and worker compensation funds, many financed with payroll taxes and other worker contributions, according to the bureau.

Spending exceeded $1.7 trillion for the combined states, according to the report. Education, at $546.8 billion, public welfare, $412.1 billion, and highways, $107.2 billion, consumed almost two-thirds of the outlays, the Census Bureau said. State records showed lottery sales rose 1.8 percent from the previous year, to $77.3 billion.

Eleven states spent more than one-fourth of their total expenditures on public welfare such as health care and assistance to the needy, led by Tennessee at 33 percent, Maine at 31 percent and Rhode Island at 30 percent.