Census Bureau: State revenue falls 16%

Jeff Clabaugh

December 9, 2009

State governments took in $1.7 trillion in total revenue in fiscal 2008, down 15.8 percent from 2007, according to the U.S. Census Bureau .

The decline was primarily because of a decrease in insurance trust revenue, including retirement systems, unemployment and workers' compensation programs, which fell by $377.7 billion, or 72.7 percent.

Total state spending rose 6.2 percent to slightly more than $1.7 trillion, Census said. The biggest expenditures were $547.8 billion spent on education, $412.1 billion spent on public welfare and $107.2 billion spent on highways.

In fiscal 2008, Maryland had $28.4 billion in total revenue, according to Census data. Virginia had $26.2 billion in revenue.

Eleven states, including Tennessee , Maine and Rhode Island , spent more than 25 percent of total expenditures on public welfare.

Proceeds from lotteries rose 2.9 percent to $18.2 billion in fiscal 2008, with New York , Florida and California collecting the most in proceeds from lottery ticket sales.

Maryland had $1.56 billion in lottery ticket sales, and collected $540.1 million in proceeds after paying prizes and administration costs. Virginia had $1.4 billion in ticket sales and $521.5 million in proceeds.