With the economy still sluggish and tax-cut pressure starving state budgets, many states have yet to fully emerge from the financial crises that took hold a decade ago. So what's a broke state government to do? According to a report in USA Today, start selling stuff:

State governments are putting more of their surplus goods on sale rather than in the dump. That's giving bargain hunters the opportunity to pick up everything from computers and desks to a car crusher and a statue of Smokey Bear.

South Dakota unloaded the car crusher for $95,000 on the Internet, according to Rick Voorhes, the state's surplus property manager. Alabama got about $30 for the "life-size" Smokey Bear statue, says Shane Bailey, director of that state's surplus property agency. [...]

The officials in charge of selling such items say tighter state budgets and a desire to reduce the amount of stuff deposited into landfills have bolstered their sales efforts.

"There has been a big push for it," says Dick Graves, president of the National Association of State Agencies for Surplus Property and director of federal and state surplus for Indiana.

"You need more money everywhere," Graves says. "There is wealth sitting here with some of this stuff."

At least 11 states, including Georgia, Arkansas, South Dakota, Washington and South Carolina, are using online auctions to sell surplus goods, according to a survey by the National Association of State Chief Administrators.

It's great that state surplus stuff is finding a good home besides the dump. But what's next, a campaign to check state office furniture for loose change that can fund school programs?