State budgets

Emergency Loans Are Costing US Schools Millions

June 20, 2026 Michael Beyea Reagan and Jason Wozniak, Truthout. Educate! Debt, Public schools, State budgets, Wall Street

In school districts from Pennsylvania to Illinois, Kentucky to West Virginia, state and local budget delays are putting the pinch on classrooms and costing districts tens of millions of dollars in additional borrowing fees — money going straight to Wall Street. In effect, political failures like budget delays, faulty tax software programs, or just political impasses are forcing some of the poorest school districts to borrow money unnecessarily. It is a massive transfer of wealth out of our local classrooms directly to the richest banks and individuals in the nation.

Labor’s New Gambit To Tax The Rich

April 1, 2026 Rebecca Burns, In These Times. Strategize! Austerity, Labor Movement, State budgets, Wealth Tax

The threat of a city government shutdown loomed large in Chicago in December 2025 as the city faced an end-of-year deadline to close a projected $1.2 billion deficit. To counteract the impact of President Donald Trump’s 2025 tax law, Mayor Brandon Johnson had pitched a budget in October that would require some of the law’s biggest beneficiaries to pay more. His proposed payroll tax — on corporations with more than 1,000 employees — would, according to his administration, amount to less than 0.01% of the Trump tax cuts bestowed on companies like Google and Walmart.

Wave Of Tax Cuts Left States Vulnerable To SNAP And Medicaid Crisis

December 12, 2025 Eli Hager, ProPublica. Educate! Donald Trump, Health Care, Medicaid, SNAP, State budgets, Tax Cuts

This fall, Americans got to see what it’s like to go without a safety net for the hungry. With the U.S. government shut down for multiple weeks and President Donald Trump refusing to fund SNAP, the federal food stamp program, a panic set in among the more than 40 million people who rely on it. Families skipped meals, and babies went unfed. Food banks ran out of food, and some people turned to dumpster diving. It was just a glimpse of what’s to come. Starting next October, Trump’s so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act will shift billions in SNAP costs from the federal government onto states.

Without Federal Aid To State And Local Governments, Millions Will Lose Their Jobs

July 28, 2020 Josh Bivens and David Cooper, Economic Policy Institute. Educate! Austerity, Debt, Recession, State budgets

Because a weakening economy undercuts state and local tax revenues, and because states operate under balanced budget constraints, the coming months will see intense downward pressure on state and local spending. Reductions in this spending will in turn significantly slow recovery from the current economic crisis. This is not an abstract concern—the historically slow recovery in state and local spending following the Great Recession by itself delayed a recovery in unemployment to pre-crisis levels by four full years.

Crushing The States, Saving The Banks

May 5, 2020 Ellen Brown, Web of Debt. Educate! Bailout, Big Banks, Federal Reserve, State budgets

Congress seems to be at war with the states. Only $150 billion of its nearly $3 trillion coronavirus relief package – a mere 5% – has been allocated to the 50 states; and they are not allowed to use it where they need it most, to plug the holes in their budgets caused by the mandatory shutdown. On April 22, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he was opposed to additional federal aid to the states, and that his preference was to allow states to go bankrupt. No such threat looms over the banks, which have made out extremely well in this crisis. The Federal Reserve has dropped interest rates to 0.25%, eliminated reserve requirements, and relaxed capital requirements. Banks can now borrow effectively for free, without restrictions on the money’s use.

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