This week, the United States House of Representatives passed a $825 billion economic stimulus program, and the U.S. Senate is currently considering a similar legislation.

The plan calls for a significant portion of the stimulus money to be set aside for state and local governments:

More than $200 billion would go to states, enough to offset $100 billion in projected budget shortfalls they now face in the next two years, plus fund big spending increases. The money could spare states from politically painful program cuts, tax increases or both. Two-thirds of the federal money is aimed directly at states' biggest spending items: education, health care and roads.

The National Conference of State Legislatures estimates states face projected budget shortfalls of $32 billion this year and $64 billion in 2010. North Carolina House Speaker Joe Hackney, a Democrat and the president of NCSL, told USA Today:

This will let us balance our budgets in a way that avoids making draconian cuts.

Under the House legislation, the amounts to be distributed range from $16 billion -- to Texas and New York -- to $576 million headed to Wyoming, which has a projected budget surplus.