States' budget picture is brightening

The L.A. Times reports:

The good news in a report released Wednesday is that, as the nation's economy slowly starts growing again, state budgets are finally on the mend after taking their worst battering since the Great Depression.

The bad news is that the situation in state capitals is still grim: Even after cutting a combined $84 billion at the start of this fiscal year, 15 states face persistent deficits that must be closed over the next six months. Meanwhile, 35 states project deficits in the next fiscal year, which begins in July 2011.

Check out Illinois in this article