States' 1994 Financial Picture Brightened, N.C.S.L. Study Notes

By Lonnie Harp

New Orleans

The relaxed look on lawmakers' faces as they strolled from meeting to meeting here last week was due to more than just this city's fabled hospitality. From across the country, state legislators arrived on the heels of a remarkable event: a stable budget year.

After spending much of the early 1990's slashing programs, firing employees, and raising taxes in response to a weak economy, lawmakers attending the annual meeting of the National Conference of State Legislatures found cause for a...