New Jersey Republican Chris Christie's ambitions to reduce what individuals pay have been sidelined by his administration's overly optimistic budget projections. Connecticut Democrat Dannel Malloy shelved a rebate plan April 28. And lawmakers in Missouri today overturned a tax cut veto by Democratic Governor Jay Nixon, allowing the reduction to go into effect only after annual revenue growth reaches a certain level, starting in 2017.

Nationwide, state revenue growth in the year's first three months rose less than 1 percent from a year earlier, according to estimates by the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government in Albany, New York. That's the smallest gain since 2010, and it has forced reconsideration — or abandonment — of pledges of relief.

"What looked like good news that allowed for some tax cutting has not only stopped, but it has reversed and started becoming bad news," said Donald Boyd, who tracks state finances at the institute. "It's hard to cut taxes in a big way when times are still kind of tight and you've had several years of serious budget cuts. Tax cuts are coming up against a lot of other priorities."