Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot (D) and Bureau of Revenue Estimates Chief Andy Schaufele report that the state is on pace to lose $2.8B in general fund revenue from the economic crisis. “It’s going to be a whole new world,” Franchot said. Maryland’s fiscal year ends June 30.

Looking at projections his economists have prepared, Schaufele said he’s never seen charts showing such a dramatic rise in joblessness and drops in revenue.
Franchot: “The entire (state) budget is going to have to be rethought.”

Franchot, who was Maryland’s comptroller during the Great Recession, predicted that that experience is going to seem “like a picnic” compared to what lies in store for the state.

Franchot said the $2.8 billion drop in revenue represents “a worst case scenario,” depending on how long most workers are forced to remain at home and economic activity is severely depressed.