States’ fiscal environments continue to feel the devastating effects of the recession, even though many economists have concluded the recession ended last summer. Economic output—gross domestic product—rose during the third quarter of the 2009 calendar year, albeit at a modest 2.2 percent annual rate, and the economy is expected to continue growing. But state tax revenues have not shown evidence of an expansion as revenues are still falling in many states, and it will likely be a number of years before tax revenues recover.

Chapter 7 of the 2010 Book of the States contains the following articles and tables:

Governors still remain in the forefront of activity moving into the 21st century. While the governorship was not the stepping stone to the presidency for President Barack Obama as it was for our two previous presidents, Democratic Gov. Bill Clinton from Arkansas (1993-2001) and Republican Gov. George W. Bush from Texas (2001-2009), the governors are in the middle of the problems facing our country’s weak economy. The demands on governors to propose state budgets and then keep them in balance in recent recessions have increased greatly during the current recession or depression in over the last half century. Proposed and adopted budgets have fallen victim to severe revenue shortfalls in almost every state, which  has put severe limits on the states to address the many growing needs of people trying to live through these tough times. And politically, this has begun to lead to some political fallout from unhappy voters on election days as they vent their anger and frustration on elected leaders.

Chapter 8 of the 2010 Book of the States contains the following articles and tables:

Chapter 9 of the 2010 Book of the States contains the following articles and tables:

Book of the States 2010

Chapter 9: Selected State Policies and Programs

Articles:

Occupants of the office of lieutenant governor provide unheralded but critical leadership, as demonstrated across the past decade.   This often overlooked office steadily performs its function, providing quiet, stable leadership, even in times of crisis.  From the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks through the Great Recession, lieutenant governors led at critical junctures both individually and through use of their collective voice.  Events demonstrate this office continues to grow in its critical leadership role in states and territories.  

Chapter 3 of the 2010 Book of the States contains the following articles and tables:

There are varying perspectives on the more than 2,500-page health care reform law, signed by President Obama in late March 2010, but most state policymakers can agree on one thing: A lot is going to change in the next four years.