Massachusetts on Thursday July 02, 2009

MA: Gas tax hike is ruled out in Senate
By Matt Viser, The Boston Globe
Senate President Therese Murray, swatting down a suggestion by Governor Deval Patrick this week that a gas tax increase might be necessary, said yesterday that lawmakers were not keen to consider the issue further.
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Stimulus eases community college troubles
By Kimberly Leonard, Special to Stateline.org
States are digging into their federal stimulus money to help finance community colleges, where rising tuition, soaring enrollment and budget cuts threaten to shut students out of the system.
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Weekly wrap: Report questions states' use of stimulus road funds
By John Gramlich, Stateline.org Staff Writer
States are spending too much stimulus money on new road construction and not enough on public transit projects, a national advocacy group claims in a report issued Monday (June 29). Meanwhile, Michigan and California consider teaming up to solve their prison problems and North Carolina and Rhode Island face off with Amazon.com over taxes.
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US: Coming to 25 states -- higher taxes
By Mark Trumbull, The Christian Science Monitor
More than half of US states are responding to budget challenges with an answer that's often unpopular with their residents: tax hikes.
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US: Mississippi tops obesity rankings; Colorado is leanest state
By The Associated Press, The Wall Street Journal
WASHINGTON -- Mississippi remains at the top of the list in this year's national annual obesity rankings, with Alabama coming in second. Outside of fairly lean Colorado, there's little good news.
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MA: 30 failing schools may face takeover
By James Vaznis, The Boston Globe
The Patrick administration, in a sharp deviation from previous state policy, will seek legislative approval to take over about 30 of the state's worst schools and dramatically weaken their teacher contracts, as part of the governor's effort to overhaul public education.
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US: States, districts in delicate dance on stimulus
By Alyson Klein, Education Week
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is clear: States are on the hook for advancing education improvement goals spelled out in the law as a condition for receiving up to $100 million in economic-stimulus aid to education.
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