States cut spending, put projects on hold

With the economy in a slide and the credit markets seized up, states are slashing budgets, eliminating jobs, putting major construction projects on hold and nervously waiting to see whether their shriveled pension funds recover.

They are also weighing lawsuits against Wall Street firms. And at least one state -- California -- may ask Washington to come to the rescue.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger warned he may have to beg the federal government for a short-term loan to cover operating costs for schools, nursing homes and police if the nation's most populous state is unable to borrow a short-term $7 billion on the credit market.

Dozens of states are expecting big drop-offs in revenue and dispiriting pension-fund losses, and are making another round of emergency spending cuts on top of deep cutbacks earlier in the year, when the economy began softening and the mortgage crisis started to unfold.

"I think everybody agrees: The iceberg is in sight," said Murray Levy, a Maryland state lawmaker.

New York, the capital of the nation's financial industry, is grappling with the highest unemployment rate since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks and a $1.2 billion deficit that could balloon to $2 billion by the end of the fiscal year March 31.

"We're going to have to take drastic action," Gov. David Paterson said.

In Massachusetts, Gov. Deval Patrick may ask state lawmakers for the power to make midyear cuts to close a $223 million budget gap. Massachusetts also saw its pension fund shrink by nearly $4 billion in September alone to about $46 billion.

States such as Massachusetts, Indiana, Washington, Pennsylvania and Colorado are either putting a freeze on hiring or hoping to reduce their payroll through attrition.

With tax revenue expected to fall at least $2.5 billion short of previous estimates, Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine ordered 570 layoffs, cut college funding by at least 5 percent and postponed state employee raises from next month until next summer.