Tracking the recession: Budget deadline looms
Unlike the federal government, states have to balance their budgets. But several states still have not completed spending plans for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
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Archive of Home on Monday June 29, 2009
Tracking the recession: Budget deadline looms
Unlike the federal government, states have to balance their budgets. But several states still have not completed spending plans for the fiscal year that begins July 1. Read More
MA: Patrick stresses upside of tax hikes
Governor Deval Patrick said yesterday that he will sign more than $1 billion in tax increases, ending a months-long standoff with the Legislature and ensuring Massachusetts residents will pay more for everything, from satellite dishes to cheeseburgers. Read More
AZ: State budget deal calls for a tax overhaul
Arizonans would see a switch to a flat income tax, get a chance to vote on a sales-tax increase and see smaller state government as part of a budget agreement reached between Gov. Jan Brewer and GOP legislative leaders. Read More
MD: Governor designates 'Smart Sites' across state
A new housing development near Aberdeen Proving Grounds and the revitalization of Mount Airy's fire-damaged Main Street are among 15 projects that Sunday received a new designation that will focus public and private investment in initiatives that use green building practices and encourage smart growth. Read More
CO: It's now legal to catch a raindrop in Colorado
DURANGO, Colo. -- For the first time since territorial days, rain will be free for the catching here, as more and more thirsty states part ways with one of the most entrenched codes of the West. Read More
VT: Study finds Vermont records and relics at risk
RUTLAND, Vt. — A new study warns that poor artifact and archival storage is putting Vermont's cultural heritage at risk. Read More
WI: Assembly passes budget; measure goes to Doyle
The Legislature on Friday sent Gov. Jim Doyle a budget that closes the biggest deficit in state history with tax increases, federal stimulus cash, aid cuts for schools and local governments, and furloughs of workers. Read More
RI: With federal help, $7.8-billion budget goes to Carcieri
The Senate approved a $7.8-billion state budget Friday night, sending the tax-and-spending bill for the budget year that begins Wednesday to the governor's desk and ending a 24-hour standoff. Read More
CA: Governor's last stand -- his way or IOUs
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, seeking to conquer what could be the last budget crisis of his tenure, is engaged in a high-stakes negotiating strategy with lawmakers that could force him to preside over a meltdown of state government. Read More
US: States consider gas and oil levies
Cash-strapped states are considering raising taxes on oil production to plug yawning budget gaps, but they face strong resistance from oil companies, which warn the moves could lead to lost jobs and higher energy prices. Read More
US: National sex offender registry delayed a year
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. has given states and American Indian tribes another year to feed a national Internet database set up to protect children by showing where possible predators live and work. Read More
GA: Georgia to overhaul health and social service agencies
For years, Georgia's health and social service agencies have lurched from crisis to crisis. People wait months, if not years, for something as simple as a copy of their birth certificate. Read More
KY: Ky. schools' healthy example could shape a national policy
As Congress moves to reauthorize childhood nutrition programs this summer, it is again taking up the issue of whether sugary sodas, chips and candy should be allowed in schools. Read More
MA: Gov. Patrick signs transportation reform bill
Gov. Deval Patrick signed the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority out of existence Friday. Read More
NY: Democratic lock seen on 2013 Albany Senate
Albany gridlock got you down? Well, worry no longer, the end is in sight — the State Senate should be back in business by 2013. An analysis of population shifts since this decade began suggests that Democrats are poised to gain as many as six seats when legislative districts are reapportioned after the 2010 census. Read More
MN: Pawlenty wants to rebuild GOP after scandals
WASHINGTON -- A potential White House contender in 2012 staked a claim Sunday to rehabilitating the Republican Party in the wake of extramarital affairs by two leading Republicans that have damaged the GOP's family-values image. Read More
SC: South Carolina politics looks past affair to its effects on governor race
The future of Gov. Mark Sanford's political career after his secret trip to Argentina and admission of an extramarital affair may now depend on something more complicated than even the human heart: the wild and woolly politics of South Carolina. Read More
RI: Senate approves referendum on state name change
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The full Senate on Friday approved adding a referendum on the November 2010 ballot asking voters whether they are willing to change Rhode Island's formal name from "State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations" to simply "Rhode Island." Read More
Weekly wrap: Feds release long-awaited stimulus job guidelines
The Obama administration tells state officials to take "a simple headcount" of jobs saved or created by the stimulus program. Meanwhile, the demand for some special jobs is soaring. Officials also warn states not to shortchange education when balancing budgets. Read More
Ga. hotline aims to cut mental health costs
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Tracking the recession: States target jobs
Though unemployment is rising in nearly every state, aggressive efforts to create jobs are paying off — modestly — in many states. Read More
Reports: State income levels plunge
States racing to cobble together new budgets for their July 1 deadline could find themselves sinking back into red ink sooner than they think, as Americans’ income and the taxes they pay on it shrink, new data show. Read More
Weekly wrap: Sales tax fight splits GOP in Arizona
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) sues her own party over the budget. The U.S. labor department releases May unemployment data, and Illinois says it can’t afford to pay for indigent burials. For a quick update on the top recession news in the states, read Stateline.org's "Weekly wrap." Read More
New courts tailored to war veterans
Twenty years after local officials in Miami opened the nation's first drug court — a specialized "treatment court" aimed at rehabilitating low-level drug offenders instead of locking them up — state lawmakers in Illinois and Nevada are applying the same idea to a different population: war veterans who have had run-ins with the law. Read More
Recession ushers in more tobacco taxes
In a double-whammy for smokers, the federal government and seven states raised taxes on cigarettes this year. But the new taxes plus President Obama's vow to sign a bill imposing sweeping regulation of the tobacco industry threaten to shrink cigarette sales — and revenues for state coffers. Read More
Tracking the recession: State leaders suffer political backlash
Voters are blaming governors and state legislators for the economic downturn, which could make it harder for them to win re-election next year. Read More
Gay marriage legal in six states
With the exception of Rhode Island, same-sex marriage is now legal throughout New England, and neighboring New York could be next. On June 3, New Hampshire became the sixth state, including Iowa, to legalize gay nuptials. But despite these gains by the gay rights movement, the United States is still a nation divided over whether to redefine marriage. Read More |
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