Louisiana lawmakers worry about budget 'cliff' - MELINDA DESLATTE, Business Week

As they patched together a $26 billion budget in the final days of the legislative session, lawmakers warily looked to next year and worried they wouldn't be able to piecemeal their way out of a looming crisis. A central part of the House and Senate budget dispute involved planning for the "cliff year" -- when the loss of a billion dollars in federal stimulus and Medicaid money and other one-time state revenue would leave a crater in the budget.