The amount of outstanding, long‐term, tax‐exempt state debt has grown precipitously over the last decade, from $87 billion in 1977 to $264 billion in 1987. But there have been few attempts to carry out broad studies of basic state debt management policies, using comparative state data. As a result, policy‐makers lack guidance as they attempt to adjust policies and procedures to meet the rapidly evolving requirements associated with public borrowing. This paper reports on a national survey of state debt manage ment policies ‐ policies devoted to the planning, preparation, sale, and repayment of debt for which states consider themselves resp