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IPFS News Link • Employee and Employer Relations

State, local budget cuts a "time bomb" for jobs

• Reuters
 Budget shortfalls pose a direct threat to millions of U.S. jobs, many in the private sector, as state and local governments lay off workers and cut spending on contracts and other business services, a think tank said on Thursday.

State and local governments will have to raise taxes and cut spending in the current and next two fiscal years to cover shortfalls totaling $469 billion, according to an Economic Policy Institute report.

The think tank -- where White House adviser Jared Bernstein spent years developing ideas found in the $787 billion economic stimulus plan he oversees -- said the U.S. government must give states and cities $150 billion in direct budget relief to save between 1.1 million and 1.4 million jobs.

1 Comments in Response to

Comment by Lucky Red
Entered on:

 Sounds like a great plan to me:  cut jobs and raise taxes.  What could possibly be wrong with that?