Mass. Drafts Emergency Plan In Case Of US Government Default
BOSTON (AP) -- Massachusetts officials are drafting emergency plans to keep paying the state's bills if the stalemate over the nation's borrowing limit drags past an Aug. 2 deadline -- including looking into whether the state treasurer could dip into rainy day funds.
Massachusetts should be in relatively good fiscal shape in the short term.
The state is slated to receive about $850 million in federal reimbursements in August, much of it for Medicaid payments.
State Treasurer Steven Grossman said the state has enough available cash to make up the difference.
The situation could worsen in September, with about $1 billion in local aid payments scheduled to go out to cities and towns.
Grossman said his office is investigating whether he could temporarily draw from the state's rainy day fund without legislative approval to cover any shortfall.
(© Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
