The Red Monkey

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A new report says that states again saw big drops in tax collections in the last quarter of 2009 — the fifth straight quarterly decline.

The Rockefeller Institute of Government says that tax collections across the country dropped about 4 percent overall last quarter, when measured against the same quarter in the previous year.

The report shows that seven states — Montana, Alaska, Wyoming, Arizona, Oklahoma, Texas and Georgia — experienced tax revenue drops of more than 10 percent.

The institute notes that states that already have slashed spending or raised taxes will need to do more. Beleaguered state governments are cutting back on schools, social programs and prison costs — such as by releasing inmates early.