On Friday,  Georgia’s state government released preliminary numbers showing that the state had more than a $1 billion drop in tax collections for fiscal year 2019-2020.

The exact amount of the budget shortfall won’t be known as state officials are still waiting delayed income tax receipts.

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp and the General Assembly have resisted raising taxes, choosing instead to dip into the state’s “rainy day fund”, which had $2.8 billion at the beginning of the fiscal year.

By statute, the state cannot run a budget deficit.  Experts say that it is not likely that the state’s shortfall in revenue will be less than $1 billion.