Grim & Grimmer

How bad is the financial situation for states, cities and school districts? Here's a snapshot of some of the major rollbacks and quality-of-life consequences:

In Texas, 250,000 poor children have been cut off from the Children's Health Insurance Program.

Lawmakers in Florida may slash the state crime lab's budget, forcing cash-strapped police departments to pay $160 for each piece of evidence analyzed. Police say they can't afford it and many criminals will go free.

In Michigan, proposed budget cuts may eliminate various sanitary regulations covering waste hauling, campgrounds, swimming pools and mobile home parks, changes experts say would put public health at risk.

Parents in Idaho are raising money for teacher salaries by holding bake sales and auctions.

In Montana, neighborhood schools are closing, teachers' salaries are among the lowest in the country and school support staff has seen its share of health care premiums skyrocket by 60 percent, leading 10 percent to drop coverage altogether.

Some South Dakota schools have cut back to a four-day week and others are seeking volunteer coaches for varsity sports teams.

Massachusetts may eliminate a prescription drug program that covers 80,000 seniors.

Colorado has suspended property tax breaks for 120,000 elderly residents. The program had saved needy seniors hundreds of dollars each year.

In Indiana, many families say they can no longer afford camping trips because state park fees have doubled.

In Ohio, 2,500 Cincinnati-area families moving off welfare are losing government aid for childcare.

Detailed reports on every state's budget crisis, prepared by the Economic Policy Institute and the Institute for America's Future, can be found online at www.ourfuture.org. Also see www.aflcio.org. Click on "In Your State." More information about the economy and taxes is available at the EPI website, www.epinet.org and the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities site, www.cbpp.org.