NCSL tracks a wide range of issues and at any one time some topics are of particular interest to legislators and legislative staff. On this page you will find a compilation of issues that are of keen interest right now. The features at the left will take you to the permanent links of available information.

• State Stimulus Plans.  States have been working on stimulus plans independent of federal efforts since the beginning of the recession.
• Evaluating Economic Development.  All states have programs designed to grow their economies (this report looks at how effective they are).
• Innovation Indices.  Some states have begun to move beyond traditional measures of economic development and now gauge innovation as an indicator of their state's potential for growth.  
• Gambling in the States, 2009.  See gambling proposals and developments in states that continue to ride the wave of gambling expansion. 
• Lotteries as a State Revenue.  With state finances in such bad shape, every dollar in revenue helps, but just how much do lotteries contribute to state coiffeurs? 
• Lottery Payouts and State Revenue.  Forty-four states use lotteries to generate revenue, but how much does each state end up with after prize payouts and other costs? 
• Lotteries and Revenues by State.  Which state lottery is the biggest, most efficient and what are lottery proceeds per capita in each state?