This presentation was given by Sujit M. CanagaRetna, Senior Fiscal Analyst at the SLC, at the 2010 National Association of governmental Labor Officials (NAGLO) Annual Meeting in Richmond, Virginia, July 26, 2010. The presentation covers five broad areas: key national economic trends and the fiscal position of states; strategies being deployed by states to balance budgets; structural flaws in state tax systems that will continue to plague state finances going forward; major expenditure categories looming on the state fiscal horizon; and some of the “green shoots of growth” and the promising economic development projects that will contribute toward reviving state economies.