
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 » State Constitutions
Chapter 2 » Federalism and Intergovernmental Relations
Chapter 3 » State Legislative Branch
Chapter 4 » State Executive Branch
Chapter 5 » State Judicial Branch
Chapter 6 » Elections
Chapter 7 » State Finance
Chapter 8 » State Management, Administration, and Demographics
Chapter 9 » Selected State Policies and Programs
Chapter 10 » State Pages
Per Capita Personal IncomeBy Jennifer Burnett | Friday, September 2, 2011 at 1:53 pm |
State Economy by RegionBy Jennifer Burnett | Thursday, July 21, 2011 at 11:38 amSince 1935, The Book of the States has been the resource for state information for state leaders. Today—perhaps more than ever—access to up-to-date and reliable data and information is a key ingredient to developing successful state strategies and evidence-based solutions to the tough challenges policy leaders face. Now, policymakers have a new tool: The Book of the States Regional Analysis Series. |
Unemployment Insurance Trust FundsBy Jennifer Burnett | Wednesday, July 13, 2011 at 5:58 pm |
Trends in State Prison PopulationsBy Zach Huitink | Wednesday, July 13, 2011 at 5:45 pm |
Trends in State GDP: 2010By Jennifer Burnett | Wednesday, July 13, 2011 at 5:28 pmNearly every state saw an increase in real gross domestic product1 in 2010—a welcome sign of economic recovery after two straight years of drops in the national average. Each region performed differently, with a few states posting impressive 4-plus percent gains and a majority of states falling between 1.5 and 3.5 percent. |
Trends in State Tax Rates: Corporate Income TaxesBy Zach Huitink | Wednesday, July 13, 2011 at 5:13 pmState revenues appear to be rebounding, but generally remain below pre-recession levels. At the start of 2011, state corporate income tax rates1 largely mirrored those assessed in 2007 - three states had raised rates, while five had lowered them. More change may be on the way in the 2012 fiscal year, as debate continues on issues like nexus thresholds and taxation of out-of-state entities. |
Secretaries of State Confront the Growing Problem of Business Identity TheftBy Audrey Wall | Friday, July 1, 2011 at 12:00 amSecretaries of state are warning about the increasing risk of business identity theft as the problem spreads across the states. Criminals have been altering online business records housed by their offices and using them to open up phony lines of credit to illegally obtain valuable goods and services. Secretaries of state are working to establish new safeguards against such fraud, as they alert state legislators and other key stakeholders about the magnitude of the issue. |
Recovery Act Transportation Spending: ‘Summer of Recovery’ Becomes Fall of DiscontentBy Sean Slone | Friday, July 1, 2011 at 12:00 amThe American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provided $48 billion to states for transportation infrastructure projects. States achieved significant successes in 2010 in meeting deadlines associated with the legislation, starting and completing projects on time and under budget, creating jobs and doing it all with little fraud or waste. Still, some questions have been raised about whether the stimulus could have had a greater impact, which types of projects were funded and which states received the most funding. Despite its political unpopularity in 2010, the Recovery Act proved its worth to state transportation officials around the country. |
Book of the States 2011, Chapter 3: State Legislative BranchBy Audrey Wall | Friday, July 1, 2011 at 12:00 am |
State-Federal Relations: Civil War Redux?By Audrey Wall | Friday, July 1, 2011 at 12:00 amThe 2010 elections exacerbated party polarization and, along with it, a polarization of state federal relations, which is produced when one party controls most of the federal government and another party controls most of the states. The 2010 federal health care law aggravated this polarization and, because of its impacts on the states, produced an unprecedented challenge to its constitutionality by more than half the states. The 2010 federal financial regulation law and the U.S. Supreme Court’s application of the Second Amendment to the states also presage further federal incursions into state and local governance at a time when federal budget cutbacks and rising social welfare costs will heighten state and local fiscal stress. |












