Budget Conditions

State fiscal conditions change throughout the fiscal year. NCSL conducts periodic surveys and publishes the results in State Budget Updates. These reports address fiscal conditions in October/November and again in March/April. These reports are supplemented by information collected for "State Budget Actions," an annual report that collects state spending and revenue information for the most recently completed fiscal period and the forthcoming one.

All states but one (Vermont) require balanced budgets, so legislators must carefully plan their expenditures. The results of their efforts are documented each year in State Budget Actions. As part of their overall approach to budget balancing, a number of states use budget stabilization or rainy day funds. An indicator of a state's fiscal condition is its year-end balance.

The states' ongoing fiscal difficulties and the possibility that states irresponsibly spent themselves into their own crisis raise important questions: How fast did state budgets grow in the 1990s? Was their growth out of line with the past? Where did the money go? State Spending in the 1990s reviews the growth of state spending in the 1990s, puts it into the context of the remarkable national economic growth of that decade, and discusses some of the major changes that occurred in state spending.

Not all reports are freely available to the public but may be purchased from NCSL's book order department (phone 303-856-1621 or e-mail books@ncsl.org).

State Budget Update

The most current report is available freely to NCSL constituents. Previous State Budget Updates, State Fiscal Updates, and State Fiscal Outlooks are available freely to all.

State Budget Update: April 2008. This report is available freely to constituents; to credentialed reporters with e-mail to press-room@ncsl.org; and to the general public for $30 at NCSL's online bookstore. An executive summary and table of contents are here.
State Budget Update: November 2007.
State Budget Update March 2007.
State Budget Update November 2006.
State Budget Update: March 2006.
State Budget Update November 2005.
State Budget Update April 2005.
State Budget Update November 2004.
State Budget Update April 2004.
State Budget Update February 2004.
State Budget Update November 2003.
State Budget Update April 2003.
State Budget Update February 2003.
State Budget Update November 2002.
State Fiscal Update June 2002.
State Fiscal Update 2002: April 2002.
State Fiscal Outlook 2002: January update.
State Fiscal Outlook 2002: November update.
State Fiscal Outlook 2002: October update.
State Fiscal Outlook 2001: the January release and February update.
State Fiscal Outlook 2000: also available in portable document format).
State Fiscal Outlook 1999.
State Fiscal Outlook 1998.
State Budget Update 1996: May 1996.

Updated April 2008 .
Email mailto:statefiscal-info@ncsl.org?subject=Budget Conditions for more information.
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