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Tracks want to skip paying state's cut on free slot games
By Tom Searls, Charleston Gazette (registration)
West Virginia's racetracks want the opportunity to send coupons for free slot machine plays without having to pay state taxes on the games, several lobbyists and other track representatives told state Lottery commissioners Wednesday at their regular meeting.
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Tri-State shows off progress
By Rusty Marks, Charleston Gazette (registration)
NITRO, W.Va. - Owners of Tri-State Racetrack & Gaming Center in Nitro have spent about $14 million to get the facility ready for poker and other casino-style table games.
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Social issues crowd state ballots
By Pamela M. Prah, Stateline.org Staff Writer
Besides electing a president on Nov. 4, voters in some key battleground states also will face divisive social policy choices, including whether to ban gay marriage in Florida and restrict affirmative action and abortion in Colorado.
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Budget gaps triple for '09
By Pamela M. Prah, Stateline.org Staff Writer
The drumbeat of bad fiscal news from statehouses is intensifying. States collectively faced deficits of $40.3 billion in writing their current budgets — triple the $13 billion shortfall states weathered the previous year, a new report released July 23 shows.
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States worry about dwindling road funds
By Stephen C. Fehr, Stateline.org Staff Writer
(Updated 12:30 p.m. EDT, July 24, 2008)
Drivers are buying less gasoline, draining the federal Highway Trust Fund and jeopardizing thousands of major road and transit projects around the country.
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NCSL Conference focuses on floods, energy
By Daniel C. Vock, Stateline.org Staff Writer
As state lawmakers gather in New Orleans this week for a policy conference, they’ll be reminded often of what can happen if public works are allowed to deteriorate.
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States' hottest laws take on new threats
By Daniel C. Vock, Stateline.org Staff Writer
The mosaic of laws passed by state legislatures this year reveals a country grappling with threats, from a faltering economy and record-high gasoline prices to global warming and lead-tainted toys from China.
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WORTH NOTING: Ex-state senator leaves phone greeting - from jail
By Nathaniel Weixel, Special to Stateline.org
A former Maryland senator won’t be answering his phone for a few years. A Michigan ballot reform group needs a better proofreader. And South Carolina’s new license plates won’t be heading off into the sunset. In case you missed those stories this week, “Worth Noting” fills you in.
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States avoid slashing higher ed money
By Pauline Vu, Stateline.org Staff Writer
Despite a tough economic year, several states are attempting to hold the line on college tuition — or at least not let increases get out of control — by avoiding deep cuts to higher education, an area that states have been quick to slash in past years when funds were low.
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Sour economy limits states' options in '08
By Daniel C. Vock, Stateline.org Staff Writer
(Updated 5:38 p.m. EDT, July 17, 2008) For many states, 2008 will be remembered for record numbers of home foreclosures, $4-a-gallon gasoline and the beginning of a slide into new fiscal woes after two years of overflowing coffers. Stateline.org’s annual state-by-state look at legislative accomplishments, covering 39 states so far, discerns the trends and precedents emerging from state capitals this year.
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States move to regulate senior guardians
By Christine Vestal, Stateline.org Staff Writer
As the U.S. population ages and families scatter across the country, the frail elderly increasingly end up relying on court-appointed guardians when they can no longer take care of their personal affairs. California just joined six other states in watching over these professionals charged with protecting society’s most vulnerable adults.
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Govs turn to fixing infrastructure
By Pamela M. Prah, Stateline.org Staff Writer
PHILADELPHIA — Improving the nation’s crumbling bridges, roads and sewage systems is a $1.6 trillion problem that governors intend to explore in the next year.
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Govs celebrate past, look to '09
By Pamela M. Prah, Stateline.org Staff Writer
While 70 current and former governors hobnob and reminisce in Philadelphia July 11-14 during the National Governors Association's 100th anniversary celebration, the sitting governors also plan to strategize on how to influence the next president on policies ranging from energy to health care.
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Govs find their popularity might not transfer
By Louis Jacobson, Stateline.org Columnist
At a time when the presidential candidates are feverishly trying to flip red and blue states, a group of governors is finding that switching a state’s partisan leaning is no easy matter.
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2008 state-by-state summary
By The Stateline.org Staff
(Updated 2:26 p.m. EDT, July 18, 2008)
Here’s Stateline.org's state-by-state rundown of significant legislative action in 2008.
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State by state, it's still a tight race
By Louis Jacobson, Stateline.org Columnist
Finally, the last primary votes have been cast, and Barack Obama and John McCain are jousting with each other. But even as Obama opens up double-digit leads in two national polls, the election is still poised to be decided in a half-dozen toss-up states.
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Jobs are at risk if Congress doesn't fix the Highway Fund
By John Horsley, AASHTO Executive Director
State budgets and nearly 400,000 jobs are at risk if Congress fails to replenish the Highway Trust Fund, John Horsley, executive director of the American Association of State Highway & Transportation Officials, writes in a commentary for Stateline.org.
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Calif. gay marriage ruling sparks new debate
By Christine Vestal, Stateline.org Staff Writer
(Updated 5 p.m EDT, June 12, 2008)
The California Supreme Court reignited a political wildfire with its ruling legalizing same-sex marriage in the most populous state in the union, but the issue already has burned out in more than half the states.
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Will Obama have coattails in the South?
By Louis Jacobson, Stateline.org Columnist
High turnout among African-Americans and younger voters could reshape the Southern political landscape this fall. But Democrats may find gains in statewide contests thwarted by bad timing and a potential conservative backlash.
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At-risk gubernatorial seats increase
By Louis Jacobson, Stateline.org Columnist
After a pair of hard-fought primaries, North Carolina joins Missouri, Washington and Indiana on Out There's list of states where partisan control of the governorship could flip this fall.
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Will Democrats grow legislative edge in '08?
By Louis Jacobson, Stateline.org Columnist
For the past several election cycles, the Democrats have been on a roll in legislative elections. This year, the party is well-positioned to hold its majority of chambers — but greatly expanding Democratic control may not be in the cards.
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'Purple' states turn a little more 'blue'
By Louis Jacobson, Stateline.org Columnist
The national polls point to a tight presidential race in November. But Democrats have a bit more to cheer about than Republicans do, regardless of who wins the Democratic primary, according to the latest state-by-state electoral-vote projections by “Out There.”
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Governors pitch ambitious programs
By Pamela M. Prah, Stateline.org Staff Writer
Billion-dollar deficits in California, New York and Arizona haven’t stopped governors there and elsewhere from proposing big-ticket items for 2008. Stateline.org looks at proposals from governors’ 2008 "state of the state" speeches and provides an exclusive summary of all the addresses so far.
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Summary of the State of the State Address
Gov. Joe Manchin III (D) used his Jan. 9 speech to announce a campaign to stop student bullying, a first-in-the-nation health-screening program for kindergarten pupils and a free prescription-drug program for uninsured workers. He also asked the Democratic-controlled Legislature for better mental-health counseling for returning Iraq soldiers and a tougher anti-drug program.
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Commentary: Govs beat White House hopefuls as agents of change
By Gene Gibbons, Stateline.org Executive Editor
It took a while for most of the presidential candidates to figure out that voters want “change” and action on a variety of issues that affect their lives. They might have gotten it sooner if they had noticed the way that many states, led by innovative governors, are moving forward in areas like health care, immigration and global warming.
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AG contests attract serious attention
By Louis Jacobson, Stateline.org Columnist
Once, races for state attorney general were quiet affairs. No longer. Attorneys general can wield enormous power in such areas as consumer protection and criminal prosecutions – and can use the job to vault into higher office. Here's how this year's 10 state races for attorney general are shaping up.
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Democratic mid-term gains affecting policy
By Louis Jacobson, Stateline.org columnist
So complete was the Democratic rout in the 2006 midterm elections that the party even gained legislative influence in Alaska, Idaho, North and South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming – states long dominated by the Republicans. And those gains, though small, are translating into policy achievements.
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Prisoners' time spent on death row doubles
By Kevin Johnson, USA Today
The time prisoners spend on death row has nearly doubled during the past two decades. Legal experts predict it will rise further as states review execution procedures and prisoners pursue lengthy appeals.
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AMBER Alerts continue decline
By Wendy Koch, USA Today
The number of AMBER Alerts, public announcements of a child's abduction, is falling as police use them only for kids in the most danger.
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Minimum-wage hike a lift for seniors, too
By Cheryl Corley, National Public Radio (Audio)
The federal minimum wage increases by 70 cents on Thursday to $6.55 an hour. About one quarter of the people who work for a minimum wage are teenagers, but most are adults like 63-year-old Shirley Golliday.
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Gas conservation threatens road funding
By Christopher Conkey, The Wall Street Journal (subscription)
WASHINGTON -- The House passed legislation that would steer $8 billion to highway projects next year, in a prelude to a broader debate over how much to invest in roads, bridges and other transportation infrastructure.
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Huge housing bill set to become law
By Lori Montgomery, The Washington Post (registration)
The House yesterday easily approved legislation that seeks to slow the steepest slide in house prices in a generation, rescue hundreds of thousands of homeowners at risk of foreclosure and reassure global markets that mortgage-finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will not be allowed to fail.
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States slammed by tax shortfalls
By Conor Dougherty, Amy Merrick and Anton Troianovski, The Wall Street Journal (subscription)
The stumbling U.S. economy is forcing states to slash spending and cut jobs in order to close a projected $40 billion shortfall in the current fiscal year.
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Housing bill will extend federal role in markets
By Damian Paletta and James R. Hagerty, The Wall Street Journal (subscription)
WASHINGTON -- A sprawling bill that reaches deep into the U.S. housing industry is close to becoming law, in what will likely stand as the federal government's most expansive effort to stabilize the mortgage and financial markets.
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