States are facing budget problems caused by downturn, attacks.

Byline: Bob Mahlburg

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. _ In Arizona, college students from across the state rallied this month at the state Capitol to protest cuts in university funding.

In California, the governor has called a special legislative session and recommended slashing school spending after the biggest drop in state income in half a century.

In Ohio, the governor has urged an increase in business taxes. The House speaker, the Senate president and the governor _ all Republicans _ are feuding after a failed attempt to plug a $1.5 billion budget hole.

As Florida legislators return to Tallahassee on Tuesday to again try to dig their way out of a $1.3 billion deficit, many state lawmakers across the country seem to be working from the same script.

For the first time in a decade, state governments are freezing salaries, raiding rainy-day funds and chopping spending for schools, highways and health care.

After years of slashing taxes, some states are raising taxes, rolling back tax cuts _ or both _ to bolster slumping state income. North Carolina has raised income taxes and sales taxes, and other states …