evidence: The year 2020 has not been a kind one for budgets. Whether it’s spending more than ever to stay alive or cutting costs to stay afloat, everyone’s been feeling the pressure, especially state governments. Fortunately, most states are in the black in terms of their finances, at least according to their latest comprehensive annual financial reports (CAFR), covering the fiscal year July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019. There are, however, several states whose budgets went into this year’s pandemic crisis already in poor shape. [...] Looking at states in terms of their debt ratio — total liabilities to total assets — the state with the most debt has almost five times as much debt as assets — $248.67 billion in liabilities to $53.05 billion in assets. There are 13 states whose net positions are negative, meaning, they have more total liabilities and deferred inflows of resources than they do total assets and deferred outflows of resources. In absolute numbers, California is the states with the most debt with $362.87 billion in total liabilities in 2019. However, with total assets worth $301.1 billion, California’s net position is better than some states with less debt. [...] In absolute terms, New York has the worst net position, being $203.77 billion in the red. With total assets worth about $106.61 billion, New York’s debt ratio is actually lower than many states with better net positions.