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By Pete Sherman, The State Journal-Register (Springfield)
RIVERTON — About five years ago, Molly Neal took custody of two grandchildren. One reason she did was that the state of Illinois would help pay her childcare costs. Today, Neal says, she doesn't know whether the state will keep that promise.
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Staff reports, Columbia Daily Tribune
Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Central Missouri has been approved for $85,000 in special tax credits to strengthen the organization's programs for girls.
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AR: Lottery Commission votes to join Powerball
By John Lyon, Arkansas News Bureau
The Arkansas Lottery Commission voted unanimously Wednesday to join the multi-state Powerball games, tickets for which may go on sale in the state as soon as this year, the state's lottery director said.
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AZ: Execution method of lethal injection approved
By Michael Kiefer, The Arizona Republic (Phoenix)
A federal judge Wednesday removed a major obstacle to executions in Arizona, ruling that the state's lethal-injection procedure is similar to one approved by the U.S. Supreme Court.
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CO: 21 couples enroll under Colorado beneficiary law
By Claire Trageser, The Denver Post
On the first day that unmarried couples could enter into a legal contract that gives them many of the rights that used to be reserved for married couples, only 21 Denver and Boulder County couples enrolled.
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FL: Prescription drug overdose deaths soar in Florida
By Scott Hiaasen, The Miami Herald
Florida continues to see a rapid rise in fatal overdoses caused by prescription-drug abuse -- a trend fueled by a cottage industry of cash-only pain clinics -- while deaths from illegal drugs wane, according to a report from the state's medical examiners released Tuesday.
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IL: Tax increase showdown set in Springfield
By John Patterson, Daily Herald (Arlington Heights)
Setting up a showdown over tax increases, Gov. Pat Quinn on Wednesday vetoed part of the state budget lawmakers had approved, saying it would have forced "disgraceful and shameful" cuts to Illinoisans who need state help the most.
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IL: Illinois starts its fiscal year with a veto
By Rick Pearson and Ray Long, Chicago Tribune
The state's new budget year got off to a politically dubious start Wednesday when Gov. Pat Quinn vetoed what he called an inadequate plan to fund human-services programs and vowed a renewed push for an income tax increase.
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IL: Quinn vetoes budget; workers will be paid
By Doug Finke, The State Journal-Register (Springfield)
Following through on his threat, Gov. Pat Quinn Wednesday vetoed part of the new state budget, triggering a return to Springfield later this month for lawmakers.
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IL: Mentally disabled in housing fight
By Lisa Black, Chicago Tribune
Samuel Golden admits he wants to keep his 53-year-old daughter, who functions at the level of a 2-year-old, in what some critics would label a large "institution." Her life, he said, would deteriorate if she were forced to move into a smaller group home that couldn't provide adequate therapy and daily activities.
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MD: State Medicaid coverage, costs grow
By Sarah Fisher, The Sun (Baltimore)
A year into a new effort to expand health coverage, recession-weary Marylanders are flocking to the state's Medicaid program in numbers far greater than expected, costing the state $50 million more in the process.
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ME: Maine still fattest state in New England
By Meg Haskell, Bangor Daily News
Like a "spare tire" of unwanted belly fat, the rate of adult obesity in Maine continues to expand. According to the 2009 report "F as in Fat," released Wednesday by the nonprofit Trust for America's Health, 24.7 percent of Maine adults are clinically obese compared with 23.7 percent in last year's report.
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MI: Michigan graduation rates are mostly unchanged
By Mike Wilkinson, The Detroit News
Three-quarters of Michigan's students are graduating high school within four years, according to new data from the state that reveals few changes from 2007, yet shows no gains in the high drop-out rates among the state's minority students.
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MT: Abortion foes seek to amend state constitution
By Charles S. Johnson, Billings Gazette
The Montana Pro Life Coalition on Wednesday submitted three proposed constitutional initiatives for the 2010 ballot defining embryos and fetuses as persons with rights, measures that if passed and upheld in courts would effectively ban abortion in Montana.
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MT: Survey finds fewer teens using meth
Staff reports, Billings Gazette
New figures released Wednesday by the Montana Office of Public Instruction show another drop in methamphetamine use among Montana teenagers between 2007 and 2009.
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NH: Official -- Contracts will be tough
By Lauren R. Dorgan, Concord Monitor
The state's chief negotiator charged with hammering out a new union contract with state employees said yesterday that he hopes to seal a deal within a week, but it's difficult for the state to offer either long-term promises or contract sweeteners amid an ongoing recession and severe budget crunch.
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NJ: N.J. bill would put state in charge of monitoring troopers
By Jan Hefler, The Philadelphia Inquirer
A consent agreement allowing the Justice Department to monitor state police in New Jersey could be dissolved under a bill that would shift the responsibility to the state Attorney General's Office. The monitoring began a decade ago in an attempt to eliminate racial profiling.
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NJ: Pact averts layoffs, keeps schools open
By Staff Reports, The Star-Ledger (Newark)
Gov. Jon Corzine has agreed to abandon plans to close 18 regional schools the state operates for students with learning disabilities under the amended contract members of the Communications Workers of America ratified this week.
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NY: $2 million settles kickback
By Andrew McIntosh, The Sacramento Bee
A California financial company on Wednesday agreed to repay $2 million to New York state's giant public pension fund after one of the company's former partners was implicated in paying a kickback to secure investment deals from the fund.
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OH: Glitches arise with change in lottery
By James Nash, The Columbus Dispatch
Lottery players experienced problems yesterday, particularly in cashing their winning tickets, as the Ohio Lottery launched a new gaming system that's supposed to save money and process tickets more quickly.
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OH: State explains estimate of slot-machine revenue
By Mark Niquette, The Columbus Dispatch
Senate Republicans plan to grill officials in Gov. Ted Strickland's administration today on how they calculated revenue estimates from proposed electronic slot machines, saying there are more questions than answers.
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OH: Ohio court protects clinic's files
By James Nash, The Columbus Dispatch
Parents who are suing Planned Parenthood over an abortion clinic's alleged negligence in allowing a teenage sexual-assault victim to obtain an abortion will not get access to clinic records on other patients, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled yesterday.
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OH: Dueling hearings -- slots vs. more cuts
By Mark Niquette, Catherine Candisky and Jim Siegel, The Columbus Dispatch
As Ohio enters its second day with an interim state budget, the political gamesmanship has escalated with dueling hearings today in an increasingly partisan stalemate.
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PA: Bill banning forced identity-chip implants clears House
By Lauren Boyer, The Philadelphia Inquirer
Invasion of privacy is an issue that really gets under State Rep. Babette Josephs' skin. That's why the Philadelphia Democrat introduced a bill, passed unanimously last week by the House, that would ban the forced implantation of computer chips in humans.
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RI: Sex-offender bills stall in R.I. Assembly
By Michael P. McKinney, The Providence Journal
Lawmakers introduced at least 14 bills dealing with sex offenders this session. With the General Assembly in recess, five have made it through either the House or Senate, but not both.
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RI: Senate commission to study marijuana decriminalization
By Katherine Gregg, The Providence Journal
Weeks after legalizing the sale of marijuana to sick people, lawmakers have voted to explore how much Rhode Island might collect in revenue if it were to make all sales of marijuana legal and impose a "sin tax" of $35 per ounce.
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TN: Suit tries to block Tennessee's guns-in-bars law
By Lucas L. Johnson II, The Associated Press, The Tennessean (Nashville)
A lawyer for plaintiffs suing to stop a law that allows handguns to be carried in Tennessee bars and restaurants that serve alcohol says the legal action is necessary to maintain a safe environment for patrons.
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TX: Child support suffers as economy suffers
By Emily Ramshaw, The Dallas Morning News
The faltering national economy is taking its toll on Texas kids. More parents are making their child support payments from unemployment checks and asking judges to lower their financial burdens.
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UT: Utah bars crawl to mark end of liquor restrictions
By Brock Vergakis, The Associated Press, The Daily Herald (Provo)
Bartenders in Utah threw open their doors Wednesday as the state ditched a 40-year-old requirement that customers fill out an application, pay a fee and become a member of a private club before setting foot in a bar.
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VT: N.H. among states hit by E. coli in beef
By The Associated Press, Burlington Free Press
WASHINGTON — At least 12 people, two of them suffering kidney failure, have been hospitalized in connection with a possible E. coli outbreak in beef suspected of having sickened people in nine states, federal health officials said Wednesday.
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VT: Smokers wince at tax increase
By John Briggs, Burlington Free Press
Cigarettes in Vermont cost a quarter more a pack and $2.50 more a carton, and the 6 percent state sales tax applies for the first time to liquor, all the result of legislation that took effect Wednesday. Liquor? No big deal, beverage store proprietors said. Cigarettes? That's another story.
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WA: Aid case increase adds to budget shortfall
By Brad Shannon, The Olympian
More Washington residents will receive Medicaid and children's health assistance in the next two years than earlier forecast, creating a $250 million shortfall in the state's already-strained budget.
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WA: Time to stock up on your favorite liquor
By Olympian staff, The Olympian
State workers are scrambling to fix a distribution problem that has crimped the flow of alcohol to customers across the state, as liquor stores and restaurants are gearing up for one of the busiest weekends of the year.
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WI: Clerks prepare for domestic partnerships
By Bob Nelson, Wisconsin Radio Network
County clerks around Wisconsin are scrambling to comply with a provision under the state budget that recognizes same sex partnerships and affords some of the same protections as marriage.
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WI: Wisconsin to recognize domestic partnerships
By Stacy Forster, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
With the budget signed Monday by Gov. Jim Doyle, Wisconsin has become the first state with a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage and civil unions to put in place domestic partnerships for same-sex couples.
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Furloughs cut into state services
By Pauline Vu, Stateline.org Staff Writer
With states facing a $121 billion shortfall in the next fiscal year, a growing number of them have turned to squeezing their workforce for savings, and effects both great and small will be felt.
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Ga. hotline aims to cut mental health costs
By Rob Silverblatt, Special to Stateline.org
Even as the recession chips away at mental health services across the country, Georgia’s around-the-clock psychiatric hotline is finding a way to weather the storm — and other states are watching closely.
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