Two years after the onset of the Great Recession, states are still facing monumental fiscal challenges. Brought on by an unfortunate combination of poor budgetary management skills, the worst recession in decades, and growing demand for services and entitlements, it seems most of the states are united by only one thing - red ink.

Ever since last November, when Republicans retook the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, the G.O.P. has successfully focused the national policy agenda almost entirely on debt and deficits.

At the heart of the debates in Washington and in state capitals across the country is the ongoing crisis in public finance as politicians, unions, lobbyists, policy wonks, and others debate just what it will take to align revenues to outlays. With the 111^th Congress having left Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 appropriations unfinished, it remains up to the 112^th Congress not only to finish the FY2011 spending bills but also begin work on the budget for FY2012.