The drumbeat of bad fiscal news from statehouses is intensifying. States collectively faced deficits of $40.3 billion in writing their current budgets — triple the $13 billion shortfall states weathered the previous year, a new report released July 23 shows.

For further analysis of the important developments in this year’s legislative sessions, see “Sour economy limits state options in ‘08” and Stateline.org’s exclusive state-by-state summaries of 2008 legislative actions.  

As the U.S. population ages and families scatter across the country, the frail elderly increasingly end up relying on court-appointed guardians when they can no longer take care of their personal affairs. California just joined six other states in watching over these professionals charged with protecting society’s most vulnerable adults.

For the past several election cycles, the Democrats have been on a roll in legislative elections. This year, the party is well-positioned to hold its majority of chambers — but greatly expanding Democratic control may not be in the cards.

Billion-dollar deficits in California, New York and Arizona haven’t stopped governors there and elsewhere from proposing big-ticket items for 2008. Stateline.org looks at proposals from governors’ 2008 "state of the state" speeches and provides an exclusive summary of all the addresses so far.