State and federal budgets are inextricably linked; in 2011, federal grants to state and local governments totaled $607 billion, or roughly 25 percent of spending by state and local governments that year (CBO 2013). Through grants and loans, the federal government aids states’ efforts to provide infrastructure, education, and health and social services, and to ensure public safety (OMB 2012). Economic and fiscal policy choices at the federal level can thus have substantial impacts on state budgets. With many states’ fiscal situations still grim in the wake of the Great Recession, recent federal policy decisions have put even greater pressure on state budgets.