Taxes & Budget news Subcribe to Taxes & Budget news |
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By Pamela M. Prah, Stateline.org Staff Writer
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| All three types of machines pictured here were once in operation in Alabama before the governor’s task force on illegal gambling confiscated them. Their owners deemed the machines legal electronic bingo, but the task force called them illegal slots. |
It has the drama and suspense of a John Grisham novel: pre-dawn gambling raids by state troopers, rumors of political payoffs, rowdy demonstrations at the State Capitol and a fly-over at this year’s Rose Bowl in California with a banner that read, “Impeach Corrupt Alabama Gov. Bob Riley.” All this fuss over bingo? While many other cash-strapped states are trying to expand gaming as a way to get more revenue, Alabama's outgoing governor is on a mission to stamp out illegal gambling in the Heart of Dixie.
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By Richard Mauer, Anchorage Daily News
The drive to build an in-state gas pipeline, with public funds if necessary, got a boost Thursday with the enthusiastic testimony of two of Alaska's elder statesmen, Ted Stevens and Bill Sheffield, with Frank Murkowski offering more conditional support.
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AL: Mixed emotions over proposed state park bill
By Staff Reports, WAFF.com
FLORENCE, Ala. –- Are you visiting a state park this summer? You could cash in on a pretty sweet deal. A new bill in state legislature would cut rental fees in half for Alabama residents. It might sound good to travelers, but tourism officials say it could cost jobs and create major budget issues.
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AL: Ivey touts record as treasurer in bid for governor
By Jason Morton, Tuscaloosa News
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Alabama gubernatorial candidate Kay Ivey gave an impassioned stump speech today to the Republican Women of Tuscaloosa County, imploring the group to elect proven candidates willing to make tough decisions to correct the state's political and financial situation.
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AZ: Federal funds to help Arizona storm cleanup
By Staff Reports, Arizona Daily Sun (Flagstaff)
President Barack Obama signed a disaster declaration Thursday that authorizes federal aid for eight Arizona counties and six tribal nations still struggling to recover from flooding and winter storm damage two months ago.
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AZ: Budget base shaky
By Howard Fischer, Capitol Media Services, Arizona Daily Sun (Flagstaff)
The budget that Gov. Jan Brewer signed on Thursday is built on a series of assumptions about what voters -- and courts -- will do.
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AZ: Arizona drops children's health program
By Kevin Sack, The New York Times
Arizona on Thursday became the first state to eliminate its Children's Health Insurance Program when Gov. Jan Brewer signed an austere budget that will leave nearly 47,000 low-income children without coverage.
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CA: UC could oversee prison health
By Michael Rothfeld, Los Angeles Times
The Schwarzenegger administration wants to put the University of California in charge of state prison inmates' medical needs in an overhaul of the troubled corrections healthcare system that could save $12 billion over a decade, officials say.
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CO: Poll -- Markey right, Gardner wrong on health reform
By John Tomasic, Colorado Independent
In the wake of a Congressional Budget Office report finding that current health reform legislation would cut the deficit by $138 billion in ten years, Colorado Fourth District U.S. Rep. Betsy Markey confirmed that she planned to vote to pass the legislation this weekend.
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CO: Consumer prices inch up in Colorado, West
By Mark Harden, Denver Business Journal
Consumer prices in Colorado and other western states rose 0.1 percent in February from the previous month, and were up 1.4 percent from February 2009, the U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday.
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CO: CDOT opens bids on C-470/Santa Fe interchange project
By Cathy Proctor, Denver Business Journal
The Colorado Department of Transportation opened bids Thursday for the reconstruction of the C-470 and Santa Fe Drive interchange, a project that will use up the last of the agency's federal stimulus money that it's already been granted.
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DE: Baker's budget holds cuts and hikes
By Adam Taylor, The News Journal (New Castle-Wilmington)
The average city resident would pay $216 more in property taxes and water-sewer fees under a budget proposed Thursday by Mayor James M. Baker.
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FL: Florida water managers weigh cuts, selloffs to finance U.S. Sugar land deal
By Curtis Morgan, The Miami Herald
With the odds of borrowing a half-billion bucks growing dicey, water managers are exploring new ways to finance Gov. Charlie Crist's deal with the U.S. Sugar Corp. -- a controversial land buy the governor stood firmly behind Thursday during a South Florida visit. One possible alternative: Pay for a big chunk -- perhaps even all -- of the $536 million price tag in cash.
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FL: Our eye's on you, Jackson is warned
By John Dorschner, The Miami Herald
Jackson's governing body survived four proposals to abolish it Thursday as Miami-Dade County commissioners instead voted unanimously to put the beleaguered public health system on a ``management watch'' in which the mayor will follow it closely but not take control.
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GA: House eases way for private-public partnerships on toll roads
By Nancy Badertscher, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Georgia House passed legislation Wednesday that some say could make private-public partnerships on toll roads and other transportation projects more attractive to the private sector. The bill would exempt the private owners of such projects from property taxes.
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GA: State taps lottery reserves
By Dorie Turner, The Associated Press, Chattanooga Times Free Press
State officials are dipping into reserves to help pay for education programs funded by the Georgia Lottery for the first time in nearly a decade, as ticket sales lag behind the growth of the HOPE scholarship and statewide prekindergarten.
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HI: Hawaii state workers face more pay cuts under 6-year plan
By Derrick DePledge, The Honolulu Advertiser
Gov. Linda Lingle presented an updated six-year financial plan to the Legislature yesterday that presumes another round of pay cuts for state workers and reduces benefits for people in Quest, the state's health plan for the poor and disabled.
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IA: State aims to hire debt collector
By Rod Boshart, Sioux City Journal
Iowa lawmakers are looking to hire a debt coordinator to oversee a process of trying to recoup hundreds of millions of dollars owed to the state for unpaid court charges, back taxes or other delinquent payments.
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IA: ISU, UNI athletics face end to use of tax money
By Staci Hupp, The Des Moines Register
Iowa State University and University of Northern Iowa officials would have until September to draw up plans to wean their athletic departments off taxpayer money under a proposal state regents will consider next week.
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IL: Teachers safe for now in Huntley Dist. 158
By Larissa Chinwah, Daily Herald (Arlington Heights)
While school districts across the area are reducing staff in order to make up decreased revenue from the state, the Huntley Unit District 158 school board shaved a further $2 million from its draft 2010-2011 budget without laying off teachers.
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IL: Plan could let schools opt out of new rules
By Mike Riopell, The Southern Illinoisan (Carbondale)
Under legislation approved Thursday, local schools wouldn't have to implement some new rules made by the state unless the state also sends money to pay for the changes.
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IL: Budget cuts a 'devastating blow' for local governments
By John Sharp, Peoria Journal Star
PEORIA, Ill. -- Gov. Pat Quinn's budget proposal to reduce local governments' share of the state income tax could potentially eliminate 22 full-time Peoria County jobs and cut $3 million out of the city of Peoria's budget, local officials warned Thursday.
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IL: Pekin set to consider fiscal plan
By Matt Buedel, Peoria Journal Star
PEKIN, Ill. -- City Manager Dennis Kief initially balked at the prospect of passing a fiscal year 2011 budget that relies on more than $700,000 in state income tax disbursement that could evaporate under the budget proposal advanced by Gov. Pat Quinn last week.
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IL: District 86 weighs cost-cutting moves
By Leslie Williams, Peoria Journal Star
EAST PEORIA, Ill. -- Cuts to supplies, travel and training workshops are some of the cost-saving measures District 86 school board members weighed Thursday night in an attempt to plug what could be up to a $3 million gap in next year's budget.
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IL: ICC approves smaller tuition increase
By Dave Haney, Peoria Journal Star
EAST PEORIA, Ill. -- An initial vote to raise tuition at Illinois Central College by $8 per credit hour failed Thursday, ending with a stalemate and at least two trustees remarking how students and families are struggling financially.
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IL: Lincoln Developmental Center's future remains foggy
By Kurt Erickson, Bloomington Pantagraph
The Lincoln Developmental Center, closed since 2002, is being marketed as a possible site for warehouses or office space, as well as a residential treatment center for youth programs or veterans with Alzheimer's disease.
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IL: Dental management contract focus of questions
By Dean Olsen, The State Journal-Register (Springfield)
Only weeks before aides to Gov. Pat Quinn said they would review and potentially re-bid all state contracts exceeding $1 million a year, Quinn's administration renewed a $255 million contract with the company that manages the state's dental program for Medicaid recipients.
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IN: Regional grant policy faces delay
By Charles M. Bartholomew, Gary Post-Tribune
PORTAGE, Ind. -- Final adoption of the much-discussed Complete Streets Policy by the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission Executive Board was delayed Thursday because of the same concerns expressed in several committee meetings.
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IN: Illiana Expressway plan signed into law
By Christin Nance Lazerus, Gary Post-Tribune
The Illiana Expressway bill garnered Gov. Mitch Daniels' signature on Thursday. The law will allow the state to enter in a public-private partnership to build and develop the Illiana Expressway.
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IN: Full day kindergarten hurt by sour economy, cost
By Chelsea Schneider Kirk, Gary Post-Tribune
Northwest Indiana parents who pay their school districts for full-day kindergarten may face steeper costs next year as districts struggle to find revenue in the wake of $300 million in cuts ordered by Gov. Mitch Daniels.
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LA: Black Caucus -- La. in 'dire straits'
By Will Sentell, The Advocate (Baton Rouge)
Leaders of the Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus and others tossed around ideas Thursday on how to cope with state budget problems without unduly harming citizens.
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LA: State staffers rip pay freeze
By Marsha Shuler, The Advocate (Baton Rouge)
The state Civil Service Commission has been flooded with e-mails from rank-and-file state employees angry about a proposed suspension of pay raises.
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LA: Higher education cuts loom
By Jordan Blum, The Advocate (Baton Rouge)
State higher education leaders Thursday were preparing to cut another $85 million from their budgets after receiving word from the Jindal administration.
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MA: More cuts loom as state faces $295m in red ink
By Michael Levenson, The Boston Globe
Massachusetts is potentially facing a new budget gap of up to $295 million this year, a grim forecast that state officials said could spell yet another round of painful cuts before the fiscal year ends in June.
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ME: Money there for some schools
By Matthew Stone, Kennebec Journal
Maine school districts will have access to $41.4 million in school construction bonds this year, but they have to move fast to get the money.
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MI: Michigan tax shift pits cities vs. Big 3
By Matthew Dolan, The Wall Street Journal
DETROIT—A tax change in Michigan has sparked a conflict between the Big Three auto makers and the cities and towns that are homes to their plants, normally a big source of support for the car companies.
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MN: DFLers look to D.C. for lifeline
By Baird Helgeson, Minneapolis Star Tribune
Legislators are inching closer to plugging a $1 billion budget hole as optimism has spread through the Capitol that a big infusion of federal cash could spare the state from the most painful cuts -- at least for now.
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MO: Trim waste, Missourians plead online
By Terry Ganey, Columbia Daily Tribune
Read the ideas from all over the state about how to deal with Missouri's budget crisis and you come away with the feeling there's a lot of common sense out there.
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MS: Colleges eye rate hike for boarding
By Maria Burnham, The Associated Press, The Clarion-Ledger (Jackson)
The leaders of Mississippi's eight public universities presented the state College Board with requests to raise room-and-board rates Thursday but were told to come back next month with proposals for the long-term upkeep of dorms, not just the bare minimum needed to scrape by.
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MS: Board approves agency furloughs
By LaRaye Brown, The Clarion-Ledger (Jackson)
More than 5,000 state employees could be sent home without pay as agencies grapple with continually shrinking budgets. The state Personnel Board on Thursday approved furloughs up to six days for employees of the Department of Public Safety, said Lynn Fitch, the board's executive director. The state Tax Commission and Department of Agriculture and Commerce were each approved for personnel furloughs of four to 12 day
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MS: Legislative highlights
By Staff Reports, The Clarion-Ledger (Jackson)
Criminals convicted of a felony may have to reimburse the investigating agency under a new law.
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NC: DOT -- Bridge wasn't feasible
By Bruce Siceloff, The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Asked to referee a fight between a powerful coastal senator and an environmental group, the state Department of Transportation has sided with the senator. Mostly.
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NC: A state payday for Dex One
By Mary Cornatzer, The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The state giveth and the state taketh away. That was the message of a Thursday meeting from the committee that oversees the state's incentives programs.
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NH: Court workers okay furloughs
By Annmarie Timmins, Concord Monitor
The 363 judicial branch employees in the State Employees' Association will join judges and other court staff in taking unpaid furloughs to meet a $3.1 million budget shortfall. The measure passed yesterday 149-4, with 80 percent of the eligible members voting.
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NH: Panel okays gambling, denies cuts
By Shira Schoenberg, Concord Monitor
Faced with difficult budgetary decisions, the Senate Finance Committee yesterday signaled a desire to find new revenue sources rather than make drastic cuts to social services.
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NJ: Unions decry advancement of bills on public pensions
By Angela Delli Santi, The Associated Press, The Philadelphia Inquirer
An Assembly panel yesterday approved legislation that would make public-worker pension and health benefits less generous, a move designed to put the state retirement system on sounder financial footing for tens of thousands of future retirees.
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NJ: State aid to municipalities may be cut by $445 million
By William Lamb and Barbara Williams, The Record of Bergen County
Governor Christie's proposed $29.3 billion budget would trim $445 million in state aid to New Jersey's recession-weary municipalities, forcing town officials to contemplate layoffs and service cuts to make up for the lost income.
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NM: State urged to monitor stray voltage
By Tom Sharpe, Santa Fe New Mexican
A New Jersey company on Thursday urged the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission to require monitoring of stray electricity like that which was shocking dogs in downtown Santa Fe late last year.
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NV: Special legislative session advocated for water rights
By Cy Ryan, Las Vegas Sun
The Nevada Legislature should be called into special session soon to clarify confusion created by the Nevada Supreme Court on thousands of water rights, say advocates for homebuilders, organized labor and the Southern Nevada Water Authority.
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NY: Cuomo probes pension 'spiking'
By Gina Chon, The Wall Street Journal
New York became the latest state to shine a light on the practice of pension "spiking"—big increases in a government worker's salary just before retirement to boost the lifelong pension payout.
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NY: Refund-amentally flawed fiscal state
By Fredric U. Dicker and Carl Campanile, New York Post
Amid new warnings that the state's finances are worsening, Gov. Paterson has decided to delay income-tax refunds for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers for at least two more weeks, officials said yesterday.
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OH: Kasich wants changes but will save details for fall
By Laura A. Bischoff, Dayton Daily News
DAYTON, Ohio -- Republican John Kasich can talk at length about what he thinks Ohio needs to do to get out of the economic ditch — phase out the state income tax, reform regulations, cut government spending — but the gubernatorial candidate is reticent about the details.
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OK: Oklahoma medical examiners struggle, official says
By Nolan Clay, The Oklahoman (Oklahoma City)
The state medical examiner's office has a backlog of more than 1,100 uncompleted cases, its chief administrative officer revealed Thursday. The backlog will continue to increase until more doctors are hired, Tom Jordan told the Board of Medicolegal Investigations, which oversees office operations.
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OR: Portland based EcoTrust unveils carbon credits from Olympic forest
By Scott Learn, The Oregonian (Portland)
A for-profit subsidiary of Portland-based EcoTrust has signed its first deal to sell carbon credits from forest land it owns, putting 3,276 acres on Washington's Olympic Peninsula into the market for credits designed to offset business and government greenhouse gas emissions.
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OR: Oregon energy tax incentives face new limits
By Harry Esteve, The Oregonian (Portland)
A host of reforms aimed at reining in Oregon's budget-busting subsidies for green energy projects were signed into law Thursday by Gov. Ted Kulongoski -- a year after he vetoed a similar bill.
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PA: Pa. Turnpike inspector says he's saved $1 million
By Paul Nussbaum, The Philadelphia Inquirer
The Pennsylvania Turnpike's new inspector general, hired to root out corruption and waste at an agency long regarded as a patronage haven, has forced the termination of 32 turnpike workers during the last year.
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PA: PUC sets hearing on Marcellus shale pipes
By Don Hopey, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission is holding a special hearing as part of efforts to clarify and possibly expand its role in regulating burgeoning Marcellus shale gas well and gas pipeline development.
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SC: House approves budget
By Yvonne Wenger, The Post and Courier (Charleston)
Smokers would pay 30 cents more for a pack of cigarettes and thousands of state workers could lose their jobs under a $5 billion budget that the state House approved early Thursday after a marathon session.
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SC: Gov. Sanford accepts fine in ethics case
By Robbie Brown, The New York Times
Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina agreed Thursday to pay $74,000 to settle charges that his personal travel and campaign spending violated state ethics laws, but he continued to deny wrongdoing.
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SC: Senate sets new spending limits
By Roddie Burris, The State (Columbia)
Senate Finance Committee members settled on a new spending limitation plan for state revenue Thursday, after state economists told lawmakers their previous plan would not work.
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SD: Blender pumps get fed boost
By Thom Gabrukiewicz, Argus Leader (Sioux Falls)
South Dakota is looking for gas station owners who want to install ethanol blender pumps, with $1 million in federal stimulus money to help prime the pump.
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TN: TennCare postpones some cuts for a year
By Lucas L. Johnson, The Associated Press, The Tennessean (Nashville)
TennCare officials said Thursday they will be able to use a federal refund of $121 million to postpone some cuts to the state's expanded Medicaid program for a year.
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US: An alternative to 'alternative' assets
By Gina Chon, The Wall Street Journal
Public pensions are increasingly asking a question that has haunted investors since the financial crisis: When is an alternative investment really more of the same?
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US: Congress does repair job on stimulus school construction plan
By Christopher Flavelle, ProPublica
Last December, we reported in USA Today [1] that a plan to subsidize billions of dollars in school construction under the stimulus bill had largely flopped. Now, Congress has passed a fix to get the program back on track. President Obama signed the bill today.
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UT: Utah counting on you to send in census form
By Brandon Loomis, The Salt Lake Tribune
Utah could have been $900 million richer during the past decade if everyone in the state had returned the U.S. census forms in 2000, according to members of Salt Lake City's Complete Count Committee.
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UT: $1,050 for a voter list?
By Cathy McKitrick, The Salt Lake Tribune
State Records Committee members sympathized with Steve Maxfield Jr. After all, charging more than $1,000 for a public record that takes the state all of 20 minutes to compile seems a bit steep.
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UT: Utah's job losses 'more moderate' in February
By Lois M. Collins, The Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City)
Utah's economy is slowly improving, with more moderate job losses in February, according to an employment summary issued Thursday by the state Department of Workforce Services.
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WA: Crossing sponsors mull plan changes
By Erik Robinson, The Columbian (Vancouver, Wash.)
Eliminating freeway exits in downtown Vancouver and on Hayden Island should be considered under a refined Columbia River Crossing project, local officials on both sides of the river suggested Thursday.
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WA: Wash. lawmakers -- Tax compromise could be possible
By Curt Woodward, The Associated Press, The Olympian
Legislative leaders were more optimistic Thursday that compromise might be possible on an $800 million tax package to help bridge the state's budget deficit, the main attraction of a special session heading into its fifth day.
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WA: More lawmakers turning down per diem pay
By Brad Shannon and Jordan Schrader, The Olympian
The cost of the special legislative session in Olympia has shrunk to less than $14,000 a day, thanks to a growing line of state legislators who are refusing to accept their $90-per-day expense allowances.
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WV: Finished budget includes money for Medicaid waiver programs
By Phil Kabler, Charleston Gazette
House and Senate conferees completed work on the 2010-11 state budget bill Thursday afternoon. House Finance Chairman Harry Keith White, D-Mingo, said the budget includes an additional $15 million for Medicaid waiver programs to provide in-home care to senior citizens and for persons with developmental disabilities.
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The empire strikes out
By Stephen C. Fehr, Stateline.org Staff Writer
 New York Governor David Paterson replaced a governor caught up in a scandal. Now Paterson is accused of wrongdoing himself and has declined to run for election. Facing a myriad of challenges, including a $9 billion budget shortfall, Paterson is finding it difficult to be effective in his final months in office.
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Non-profit Ill. hospital must pay property tax
By Stateline.org Staff
TODAY'S TAKE: In a closely watched case, Illinois’ highest court Thursday determined that a not-for-profit hospital had to pay property taxes, because it didn’t offer enough charity care to qualify for a tax exemption.
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