Rainy day fund facts.

• Position: TRENDS AND TRANSITIONS - Brief article

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The slumping housing market has slowed tax collections in at least 26 states. And several are currently looking at tapping their rainy day funds to make up the shortfall. States created rainy day funds with a common intent: Save surplus revenues in the good times for when the bad times come.

* Forty-seven states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgins Islands house at least one rainy day fund in their state treasuries; Arkansas, Kansas and Montana do not.

* Six states maintain two or more separately operating funds.

* Most states make deposits into their rainy day funds using a line-item appropriation in an annual or biennial budget, or from a portion of a fiscal year-end surplus.

* In nine states deposits are triggered when revenues or economic growth exceed specified levels.

* Thirty-three states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands limit the sizes of...