Anyone who doesn't think that states and municipalities are on the brink of collapse, ought to have their heads examined. Christie told it like it is, and the situation is prevalent for many states including CA, IL, NJ, NY, etc.
How will this all play out in the short-run, remains to be seen. State tax revenues are way down; medicaid, education, and pension costs are skyrocketing. These unfunded pension liabilities are the biggest concern of all. There is no question that there will be major defaults happening, UNLESS old Uncle Sam decides to print more money and bail all of these state and local municipalities out again. If the Federal government decides against this (and with anti-union Republicans now in charge in the House, this is a possibility), then look for the municipal bond market to implode, and states to default left and right. Things could get very ugly.
Of course, if the Federal govt comes to the rescue again, we have our continuance of "let's play Kick the Can" again, and we will be deferring the GIANT implosion for a couple of more years.