Exempt Interest , Box 12 of 1099-Div: What is the "State" for "State for where Dividends were earned"

[ChallengedinCA]

For Tax Exempt Interest Dividends in Box 12 of 1099-Div I have worked out the Interest for each State (messy but doable).  However the next line asks me to input the “State where the dividends were earned. Postal Code such as CA or NY”.

Is the “State where the dividends were earned”

• The State I live in, which is CA (since “I”  “earned” those dividends and I live in CA)

 OR

• The State(s)  where the fund invested in their muni or bond funds (e.g. 10% div in CA, 15 % div in MA, 20% div in MN etc)

The “State where the dividends were earned”  is a single State box (albeit you can enter xx for multiple states).

The question resides on what “earned” actually refers to i.e. did “I” earn the dividends or did the “fund” earn the dividends. Since “I” am the one paying taxes and taxes are on earned income (the funds don’t actually pay taxes, I do) then I assume it is the State I live in, but I would like a definitive answer.