The budget picture.

• Position: The Legislative Reality - Brief Article

States may be on the home stretch of a marathon budget crisis, NCSL's most recent state budget report shows. State Budget & Tax Actions 2004: Preliminary Report, released during the Annual Meeting, indicates that states ended fiscal year FY 2004 with higher ending balances than last year. But those balances are expected to fall by the end of FY 2005.

During the past four years of budget woes, states closed more than $235 billion in budget gaps, but lawmakers remain wary of FY 2005. States must find money to pay for programs they covered with temporary federal funds last year. And they are feeling pressure to make up for several years of painful cuts to programs.

"When budgets started their downturn in 2001, state legislators knew they were in for a difficult run, but they didn't expect a marathon," said NCSL President Marty Stephens, speaker of the Utah House. "Though we've seen some improvement in fiscal conditions, there's still a...