Get ready to pay.

States struggling to keep government running and balance their budgets are turning to higher taxes and fees, potentially doubling the load of new taxes this year and erasing much of the savings from the high-flying 1990s.

An Associated Press analysis of budget work in all 50 states found many are trying to target their tax hikes or increase fees – allowing politicians to claim they did not raise state income taxes.

But those states that have raised across-the-board taxes such as income, sales or property taxes will get more money.

Smokers, drinkers and gamblers are top targets. So are drivers and traffic offenders.

Businesses large and small are being forced to pay more as states confront billion-dollar gaps between the amount of money they gather and the amount they spend.

Few will escape the pain, whether it is someone buying a new tire ($2.50 more in New York), hunting big game in Wyoming ($200 more for some licenses), or seeking care in a nursing home (a $6.50 daily fee per patient in Colorado, charged to owners of nursing homes).

In the 21 states with budgets signed into law, Americans will pay $4.3 billion in new taxes and $2.3 billion in new fees.

An additional $14 billion in proposed taxes and $2.4 billion in possible fees remain on the table in 29 states, including some of the most expensive proposals in states such as California, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. In 10 of those states, legislatures have passed spending plans, but governors have not yet signed them.

California is facing a record $38 billion budget gap, and the Legislature and governor are in the throes of partisan gridlock over how to close it.

Gov. Gray Davis, a Democrat, is proposing deep cuts and a $10.7 billion deficit-reduction bond that would be paid off over five years by a half-cent-on-the-dollar increase in the sales tax.

Davis' $8.3 billion tax package also would raise the tobacco and upper-bracket income taxes, yielding $2 billion, and assumes the vehicle license fee will automatically triple under previous law, yielding $4 billion.

Republican legislators in California oppose any tax increase and, though in the minority, they have enough votes to block the budget.

The increases are chipping away at the $35.7 billion in state taxes cut during the 1990s. Since the economy went sour, states raised $9.1 billion in new taxes; this year, more than twice that is possible now – at $18.3 billion in new and proposed taxes.

While states scramble for money, the federal government is cutting taxes. Some Americans will pay more to their state than they get back from Washington, but others will come out ahead, depending on where they live and their habits, like smoking, drinking or speeding.

At Congress' insistence, President Bush's federal tax law gives states $20 billion over the next two years. That could ease pressure for taxes and fees, though many policymakers say the money will go mainly to putting off program cuts or into near-empty reserves.

Governors and legislators say they raised taxes and fees reluctantly because they saw few other choices. Budget problems were too severe to be solved by spending cuts alone.

Each choice is difficult because it has immediate pocketbook consequences for workers, poor people and families. And each decision could bring political consequences, whether for governors living up to campaign promises or legislators worrying about elections.

"Nobody ever likes any tax," said Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, but he vowed during his campaign last year to tackle the state's tax system, which he says under funds schools.

So he proposed a sweeping restructuring that would raise income taxes and cut property taxes. Rendell, a Democrat and former Philadelphia mayor, said the state would thrive with stronger education and business opportunities, while the wealthy would pay more and the middle-class slightly more. He braced for criticism.

"You have no choice," he said. With "any revenue-raising item, you're going to tick people off." Pub owners complain about the tripling of the malt beverage tax. Cell phone users don't like higher bills.

"You try to be as fair as you can in spreading the tax burden," Rendell said.

Now, he faces a challenge getting his way in a GOP-controlled legislature, where budget deliberations are just beginning.

Much work remains in 18 other states, where lawmakers are looking at cuts in services – usually, before they resort to taxes – to fill in their state's financial hole.

Governments will earmark some tax and fee hikes for a specific purpose, like fixing potholes, to try to preserve that service.

So-called sin taxes on cigarettes, beer and gambling are the biggest targeted tax, meaning they're aimed at only one segment of the population.

Such taxes are easy money with little risk: People like their vices, rarely speak up when they're taxed and the levies hit a relatively small group.

About $1.5 billion in sin taxes are being considered nationwide, with $455 million already passed into law.

Business taxes are climbing, too, and the 21 states that have passed spending plans hope to raise at least $329 million from new or higher taxes – and from closing loopholes or ending tax exemptions – on business. An additional $1.2 billion is being debated.

Broad-based taxes – income, sales and property – still bring in the most new revenue simply because they tax nearly everyone. Even though they've only passed in six states so far, the first $3 of every $4 in increased taxes approved have come from such taxes.

Broad-based taxes can also make a good many people angry, though, and in many states, fees are the choice.

In Massachusetts, Gov. Mitt Romney, a Republican, relied heavily on fees in his spending plan. One proposal would charge blind people $10 for a certificate of blindness so they could access state services.

"The injustice of it, of course, is that the wealthy have benefited greatly from tax cuts," said Bob Hachey, blind since birth and a member of the Bay State Council of the Blind. "And here they are trying to charge little fees on the poorer folks."

The fee is only an "annoyance," he said, but it's one that's a symbol of the sweeping cuts for health and social services that denied the visually impaired coverage for glasses and prosthetic eyes. "It's just a tip of the iceberg."

Some see nothing wrong with paying more.

Steeper fees for fishing licenses? "I think it's fair," said Aaron Fridrich, an angler from Prague, Okla. "The way I look at it, you're going to get back a lot more than what you pay for."

The new taxes and fees are all part of the states' larger financial puzzle.

Weaker-than-expected revenues left states facing an estimated $80 billion deficit in the fiscal year that begins in July. Every state except Vermont is required to balance its budget, so the money gaps must be resolved – either through a stronger economy, higher taxes and fees, cuts or borrowing.

Tax and fee proposals nationwide, even if all became law, account for less than a third of that $80 billion. Cuts, borrowing and short-term maneuvers are covering the rest of the shortfall.

Even in those states where people won't see higher taxes or sweeping fee increases, lawmakers are keeping their fingers crossed for next year.

Hawaii got by with no significant fee or tax increases, although lawmakers built their budget on a rosy 4.3 percent growth in estimated tax revenues. Through April, the gain was 0.4 percent.

In Montana, compromises between conservative and moderate Republicans left the state with a considerably higher cigarette tax and tens of millions of dollars in cuts.

"This is just like those rough years in a family's life, when you just have to pull in your belt," said Montana Gov. Judy Martz, a Republican. "It leaves out some. You can't just be there for everyone. It hurts."