Description: Transcript of the introduction and observations of a panel discussion led by Legislative Analyst Bill Hamm on federal retrenchment and state management. Bill includes four observations as follows. (1) The states' management of the retrenchment process—particularly in terms of the transition from categoricals to block grants—has been a solid success. (2) The relationship between federal and state tax policies is not what many of us were led to believe. (3) Faced with the inevitability of federal retrenchment, state governments have done a poor job of articulating what's really important to them and what isn't. (4) More and more, state management of federal, as well as state, money is being limited by the courts.