For those hoping for more state aid!

From the Governor's Online Forums,(Link here) which are being hosted by Chancellor MacCormack of UMass Dartmouth, comes this little tidbit,

If you cut costs by laying off every employee in state government, you’d still have a $1.1 billion deficit. If you eliminate every state human services agency—Mental Health, Public Health, Transitional Assistance, Developmental Disabilities, etc—you would still be short $700 million. Since the state faces a combined budget deficit of approximately $9 billion in the next two fiscal years, the federal stimulus will be part of but not the entire solution. ...How would you raise new revenue? Which services would you cut? Which services would you preserve, and how would you pay for them?

For a pie chart that shows how the state spends our money, click here
The state and local rules for things like vacation, sick time, and pensions are the same or very similar in most cases. These issues are certainly a part of the problem.
But as you can see from the statement above, the bottom has fallen out of the revenue collection. The General Court has not done enough to correct that. I would like to see

... a graduated income tax to go with the sales tax hike that is likely to pass. Although I also think the flat income tax that Pennsylvania uses has a lot of merit. The rate is fairly low but here's the kicker, no deductions on earnings. If you make $20,000, you send in $600, if you make $200,000 send in $6,000. I would also support a tax on gasoline which is dedicated to mass transit and road repair only (not tolls, not more roads).
Even if the state emptied out the Stabilization Fund, they can't keep up the contributions to education and local aid. So much for next year might be better!