COVID-19 has triggered a state budget crisis.

States, tribes, and local governments are incurring huge new costs as they seek to contain and treat the coronavirus and respond to the virus-induced spike in joblessness and related human needs.

At the same time, they are projecting sharply lower tax revenues due to the widespread collapse of economic activity brought about by the virus’ spread and needed containment activities. The federal stimulus bills to date include fiscal relief – but it is already clear that it will far short of states, tribes, and localities will need.

Unfortunately, the impact in some states will be unnecessarily harsh due to the state’s failure to adopt policies that support families and communities during the economic downturn.

More specifically, people in states with inadequate budget reserves, weak unemployment insurance systems, relatively inaccessible Medicaid programs, and/or expensive higher education systems are particularly likely to struggle during the recession if they lose their jobs.

The CARES Act included the $150 billion Coronavirus Relief Fund, which state, tribal, and local governments can use this year to meet costs connected to the virus. We have a new fact sheet detailing how much federal funding each state will receive.

Read: Our new special series on state budgets and COVID-19.

Read: Our new report detailing how some states are much better prepared than others for a recession.

Read: Our new factsheet showing how much each state will receive from the Coronavirus Relief Fund in the CARES Act.

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