This report presents an overview and a preliminary analysis of the legislative decisions made during 1990 for the 1991 fiscal year on state tax appropriations for higher education in the 50 states. The data are aggregated from a monthly research report of state tax appropriations for operating expenses of higher education. Following an introduction a retrospective of 1991 discusses nationwide gains, 2-year gains among the states, and the "megastates" (i.e., those heavily populated states that annually appropriate more than one billion dollars for higher education); a regional view of fiscal year 1991 is also provided. An analysis of trends in state higher education support looks at regional and revenue variations among the states, state support to student financial aid, community colleges and principal state universities, and state budgeting concerns. There is also a comparison of higher education finance measures. A table ranks the states for appropriations per capita and per $1,000 personal income. A section "What the Figures Are Intended To Mean" provides a framework for the collection and presentation of data. The bulk of the publication consists of tables of data for each state, each table presenting appropriations to individual higher education institutions including appropriations for scholarships and sums destined for higher education but apporpriated to some other state agency for miscellaneous types of support to institutions or to students. For each table there is column for 1991 and a column for the previous fiscal year. (JB)