Gov. Jerry Brown wants California's state government employees to take a 5 percent pay cut to help balance the budget, yet the savings he forecast in his revised budget proposal are far from assured because he must negotiate details of any cuts with dozens of labor unions that have been reluctant to accept wage rollbacks and hold enormous sway with the Democratic lawmakers who control the Legislature.

Virginia lawmakers soundly rejected many of Gov. Robert F. McDonnell's key amendments to the state budget.

Negotiators remain far apart on how to fund increases in public schools, including how much to boost spending and where the money will come from.

Lawmakers will take up spending cuts to balance an $83 million shortfall in the state Department of Health and Human Services' budget. Much of the budget balancing would come through cuts in MaineCare, the state's Medicaid program.

Gov. Sean Parnell signed $12.1 billion in operating and capital spending budgets into law.

Gov. Jerry Brown's proposal for closing California's $16-billion funding gap includes 4-day state workweeks and Medi-Cal cuts. He warns that cuts will be even more severe if voters reject tax hikes on the November ballot.

Constrained budgets and deficit reduction efforts mean federal fewer dollars for infrastructure. As such, the burden is shifting more to state and local governments, which are being forced to find creative funding solutions.

The U.S. Census collects key data from selected state and municipal pension funds every year. State Budget Solutions consolidated the data for the 222 largest state administered defined benefit pension funds from fiscal years 2007 through 2010 to present an overview of each state's pension funds.  See how your state is doing.

Recent studies by the U.S. Census Bureau, GAO, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland and the Harvard Kennedy School detail the continued deterioration and chance of failure of public pension systems within the overall local and state government fiscal crisis. Read these studies and be aware of the extent of this pressing problem.

Ten negotiation sessions over two days on a compromise state government budget wrapped up with narrowing points of contention between the House and Senate.