RI leaders brace for budget shortfall

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - Rhode Island's leaders will soon learn the size of the state's expected budget shortfall.

A team of financial officials will attend a semiannual meeting Tuesday to estimate how much income the state government should expect during the current year and the one following.

By law, Gov. Don Carcieri must use those estimates when writing the state budget.

Rhode Island's plummeting economy is expected to severely curtail the state's tax revenue. The state started its financial year in July with a $62 million deficit. That shortfall has grown worse as tax collections come in millions of dollars short and savings goals go unmet.

House Speaker William Murphy's office already anticipates deficits topping $1 billion over the next three years.