The most critical cases may be Florida and Louisiana, which both are in the top 10 for sales tax dependency and have rainy day funds that represent less than 5% of annual expenditures.
Both have been hit hard by the coronavirus. Louisiana is believed to have peaked last week, but Florida isn’t expected to peak for a couple more weeks.
They also have large tourism and oil industries, and are at particular risk for hurricanes — opening the possibility of simultaneous state emergencies.
“There’s no playbook,” Louisiana State Treasurer John Schroder tells Axios. Past state emergencies and budget crises have been regional “and then the rest of the country comes in to the rescue. That ain’t going to be happening this time.”
