Ridiculous Ways States Are Trying to Fix Their Broken Budgets

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


Faced with empty coffers, desperate governors and state lawmakers will try just about anything to improve their cash flow.

Puppy power: California Gov. Jerry Brown is selling t-shirts featuring his corgi, Sutter, and promises to donate $3 from each purchase to the Golden State’s general fund.

Pole tax: In 2007, Texas Gov. Rick Perry instituted a $5 tax on strip club patrons to fund sexual-assault prevention and state health insurance. It has since brought in $15 million.

Frack party! After he proposed slashing the state education budget by $2 billion, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett suggested the state university system open up six of its campuses to natural-gas extraction.

Pass the hat: Faced with a costly court challenge to its draconian abortion consent law, South Dakota is accepting donations to cover $750,000 in legal fees. Less than $65,000 has come in.

Plane dealing: In 2006, then-Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin pledged to sell off the state’s private jet on eBay. That didn’t pan out; the jet, first bought for $2.7 million, was eventually sold for $2.1 million.

School’s out…forever: Utah state Sen. Chris Buttars estimated that eliminating the 12th grade would knock $60 million out of the state’s $700 million deficit. His fellow legislators flunked the idea.

The honesty tax: Arizona state Rep. Judy Burges proposed adding an “I Didn’t Pay Enough” option to state income tax filings. Burges estimated it could net an extra $12 million a year; in its first year, it brought in just $13,204.

Venture capitol: In 2010, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer approved the sale of three capitol buildings for $81 million. In January, Brewer said she’d buy them back from the investors the state had been leasing them from—at a cost of $106 million.

Image: Cafe Press; Terraxplorer/iStockPhoto; State of Alaska; State of Arizona; Graffizone/iStockphoto.

Fact:

Mother Jones was founded as a nonprofit in 1976 because we knew corporations and billionaires wouldn't fund the type of hard-hitting journalism we set out to do.

Today, reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget, allows us to dig deep on stories that matter, and lets us keep our reporting free for everyone. If you value what you get from Mother Jones, please join us with a tax-deductible donation today so we can keep on doing the type of journalism 2022 demands.

payment methods

Fact:

Today, reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget, allows us to dig deep on stories that matter, and lets us keep our reporting free for everyone. If you value what you get from Mother Jones, please join us with a tax-deductible donation today so we can keep on doing the type of journalism 2022 demands.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate