what do i enter in the field that asks "what state was your tax exempt interest earned"? In the past I cound enter various nut it won't allow that

You should edit the 1099-INT, or 1099-DIV forms that have any tax-exempt $$ recorded....using the interview step-thru.

On the follow-up page that asks what single state the $$ came from (first bullet selection), just scroll to the bottom of the list of states, and there is a selection for "Multiple States".

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For box 14 on any 1099-INT....leave that box empty.  You only enter something there if it was for a single bond