Stateline.org RSS - Taxes & Budget

Weekly wrap: Forecasting revenue is a lot like predicting the weather these days

By Stephen C. Fehr, Stateline.org Staff Writer — 11/20/2009

Indiana is mulling changes to how it estimates monthly revenues, while several states are considering mergers and consolidations of government agencies, universities, school districts and more to save money.

Economy to sway 2010 gov races

By Pamela M. Prah, Stateline.org Staff Writer — 11/18/2009

The tax hikes that so many states levied to plug holes in their recession-ravaged budgets this year could endanger a few incumbent governors’ careers in 2010 when 37 gubernatorial contests are at stake.

AK: Alaska gets money for green jobs

By The Associated Press

Pacific Northwest states are getting more than $1.1 million from the U.S. Department of Labor to encourage green jobs.

AK: Jobs down in Alaska for sixth straight month

By Staff Reports

Alaska's unemployment rate jumped to 8.9 percent last month as the state recorded its sixth straight month of job losses.

AL: Higher education leaders estimate costs for 2011 budget year

By Markeshia Ricks

State higher education officials estimate that they will need between $40.4 million and $501.2 million more in state funding to keep the state's two-year colleges and four-year universities afloat during fiscal 2011.

AL: Alabama rolls out new U.S. 280 toll road plan

By Ginny MacDonald and Michael Tomberlin

State transportation officials are ready to move forward with a $710 million makeover of U.S. 280 -- a new plan that doesn't rely entirely on elevated toll lanes that doomed a previous proposal to unsnarl the congested highway.

AL: Judge named to hear suit over state computer contract

By Bob Lowry

Chief Justice Sue Bell Cobb on Thursday appointed a Jefferson County judge to hear a lawsuit filed by a legislative committee trying to block a $13 million no-bid computer contract.

AL: Alabama A&M will cut jobs this academic year, president tells faculty and staff

By Lee Roop

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. -- An estimated 800 Alabama A&M University faculty and staff jammed a campus meeting hall today seeking any clear word on how many of their jobs will survive the current academic year.

AL: White Rock: EBSCO dumped hazardous waste

By Malcomb Daniels

At a press conference today, representatives of White Rock Quarries, a company that wants to put a limestone quarry in Vincent, said EBSCO Industries is trying to block the project to hide 15 years of illegally dumping hazardous waste from its nearby plant.

AR: Fight health bill, ex-Clinton adviser urges

By L. Lamor Williams

The health-care overhaul bill being considered in the U.S. Senate is "the most serious threat to our lives and our liberties we Americans have faced since World War II," former Clinton adviser Dick Morris told about 250 Arkansans who rallied against the legislation. The group gathered Thursday on the Capitol steps in front of a "Hands Off Our Healthcare" tour bus.

AR: Swine flu death toll 20 in state

By Staff Reports

Two more Arkansans have died from swine flu, pushing the death toll from the H1N1 virus to 20 in the state, the state Health Department said today.

AR: Board OKs beer, wine sales at Fayetteville Walmart stores

By John Lyon

The state Alcoholic Beverage Control Board on Thursday approved beer and small-farm wine permits for a Walmart Neighborhood Market and a Walmart Supercenter in Fayetteville, the first grocery stores in the city to be approved for alcohol sales.

AZ: UA's Shelton committed to excellence in spite of cuts

By Becky Pallack

The University of Arizona faces "a perilous cliff" in funding, UA President Robert Shelton said.

AZ: FACTS fees to remain the same

By Staff Reports

Fees for a locally run low-cost child care program -- with art, drumming, snacks and homework help -- are not proposed to increase after all, following a decision from the state not to implement a large licensing fee hike.

AZ: Budget agreement fails in Senate

By Mary Jo Pitzl and Matthew Benson

Efforts to trim a few hundred million dollars from the state budget fell apart Thursday when the state Senate came up one vote shy of the needed majority.

AZ: Gould, Verschoor won't support budget plan

By Howard Fischer, Capitol Media Services

Efforts to start plugging the $2 billion hole in the state budget came to a screeching halt Thursday when two Republican lawmakers refused to support the plan.

CA: UC regents approve 32% student fee hike

By Larry Gordon and Amina Khan

With the chants of protesters wafting into their meeting room and armed police standing guard, the University of California's Board of Regents approved a 32%, or $2,500, increase in undergraduate fees Thursday, but promised more financial aid to keep needy students from dropping out. (Also see: CA: California lawmakers, officials face 18% pay cut )

CA: California's poverty rate 13.3 percent - maybe

By Dan Walters

California's poverty rate is almost exactly that of the nation as a whole, the Census Bureau says in its latest massive data release, while its median household income of $57,988 is higher than all but a dozen states.

CA: California, Sacramento County to probe in-home care

By Susan Ferriss

California teamed with Sacramento County officials Thursday to launch a first-in-the-state multi-agency task force to investigate fraud in In-Home Supportive Services. The program could benefit from the state budget approved last July that included $10 million to bolster anti-fraud efforts in the rapidly growing in-home care program.

CA: Pension board member directed funds to a firm with ties to his, documents show

By David Zahniser

An appointee of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa voted two years ago to direct millions in public pension dollars to a company that invested in his own private equity fund, according to documents obtained by The Times.

CA: CalPERS board members endorse new lobbying rules

By Marc Lifsher

Board members at California's huge state pension fund offered support Thursday for a plan to register as lobbyists the controversial middlemen hired by private investment funds to help get lucrative business from public pension plans.

CA: California lawmakers, officials face 18% pay cut

By Patrick McGreevy

California's Legislature went to state Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown recently seeking relief from a future pay cut and on Thursday received an unwelcome surprise: An 18% reduction for lawmakers and other elected state officials can begin next month instead of a year from now.

CA: Regents raise college tuition in California by 32 percent

By Tamar Lewin and Rebecca Cathcart

As the University of California's Board of Regents met Thursday at U.C.L.A. and approved a plan to raise undergraduate fees — the equivalent of tuition — 32 percent next fall, hundreds of students from campuses across the state demonstrated outside, beating drums and chanting slogans against the increase.

CA: A crown jewel of education struggles with cuts

By Tamar Lewin

BERKELEY, Calif. — As the University of California struggles to absorb its sharpest drop in state financing since the Great Depression, every professor, administrator and clerical worker has been put on furlough amounting to an average pay cut of 8 percent.

CO: Colorado foreclosure filings headed for record

By Margaret Jackson

Colorado is on track to top the record of 39,900 foreclosure filings set in 2007 as widespread unemployment makes it harder for borrowers to make their mortgage payments.

CO: Hit hard by times, Colorado woman still standing

By Kevin Simpson

She watched her rewarding job in the mortgage industry disappear and her financial security dissolve in a $3 million bankruptcy.

CO: Xcel Energy lops nearly $44 million off rate-increase request

By David O. Williams

Xcel Energy Thursday filed for state approval of a settlement with consumer groups in its ongoing rate case before the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC), knocking nearly $44 million from its rate-increase request.

CT: Connecticut -- Road, bridge projects face funding reality

By Don Stacom

Across Connecticut, communities and business leaders are lobbying the state to widen their highways, build interchanges, replace bridges and expand public transit systems.

CT: Carlyle to run Conn. roadside service stops

By Thomas Heath

The Carlyle Group said Thursday that it has signed a deal with Connecticut to refurbish and run the state's 23 highway service stops in return for a share of the revenue over the next 35 years.

CT: Starwood hotels to move headquarters to Stamford

By Staff Reports

STAMFORD, Conn. -- Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. says it will move its headquarters from White Plains, N.Y., to Stamford in January 2012, with the help of millions of dollars in incentives from the state of Connecticut.

CT: Connecticut gets federal grant to buy video conferencing equipment for prisons, courthouses

By Shawn R. Beals

Two federal grants will allow the state Department of Correction to buy video conferencing equipment to cut down on the number of inmates transported to state courthouses.

DE: Correction Department alerts Delaware to crowding crisis

By James Merriweather

Crowding at Baylor Women's Correctional Institution near New Castle, the state's only women's prison, could become a crisis even if there's a relatively small spike in crime, Corrections Commissioner Carl C. Danberg told state budget writers Thursday.

DE: Delaware Dept. of Education seeks leaner budget for 2011

By Jennifer Price

Secretary of Education Lillian Lowery asked state budget makers Thursday for $3.68 million less than she received in this year's budget to run the state's public education system in the next fiscal year.

DE: Delaware asked to invest in wind company

By Aaron Nathans

A startup company whose management includes former Lt. Gov. John Carney is seeking a state investment of $350,000 to establish an operation in Wilmington to manufacture support towers for wind turbines.

FL: Retailers want rollback of Fla. unemployment tax

By The Associated Press

Some Florida businesses want to partly roll back an increase in their unemployment compensation tax after being shocked by its magnitude.

FL: As the South Florida economy slows, so do divorces

By Julie Kay

MIAMI -- With the economy sputtering, South Florida couples are staying together more or attempting do-it-yourself divorces rather than paying pricey divorce lawyers.

FL: Cigarette tax boosts state budget

By Marc Caputo

A new tobacco tax is doing just what its proponents envisioned -- reducing cigarette sales while fattening state coffers.

FL: Need a job? Senate going to pay budget expert up to $170K a year

By Dara Kam

Senate budget chief J.D. Alexander is setting up a new office to help him figure out if the state is spending money wisely. Alexander and his House counterparts have grappled with the state's plummeting revenues and are facing a $2.7 billion projected spending gap in next year's budget.

FL: Miami-Dade leaders to fight wage theft

By The Associated Press

MIAMI -- Miami-Dade Commissioner Natasha Seijas announced a plan to combat the problem of wage theft -- an effort that could serve as a model for cities nationwide.

FL: Victim in `juice scam' never met alleged villain Scott Rothstein

By Amy Sherman and Jay Weaver

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- A Coconut Grove businessman says he invested $2.16 million with Scott Rothstein after a friend solicited him to buy into a high-profit deal -- that returned nothing.

GA: No new patients being admitted to Central State Hospital

By Travis Fain

Georgia's state-run psychiatric hospitals continue to have serious problems, and a recent Department of Justice visit to the largest facility — Central State Hospital in Milledgeville — led the hospital to stop taking new patients indefinitely.

GA: Health reform in D.C. could influence gubernatorial race

By Aaron Gould Sheinin

The fractious debate over health care reform has mostly been a federal affair. But if the version favored by the top Democrat in the U.S. Senate becomes law, leaders in the states could play a huge role by choosing to opt out of the so-called "public option."

GA: $38,683,179,000 - Georgia companies piling up cash

By J. Scott Trubey

Georgia's largest companies are flush with cash as cautious CEOs build a capital cushion and others look for expansion opportunities.

GA: Grand Central Terminal for Atlanta?

By Ariel Hart

A plan to build a major passenger terminal in downtown Atlanta might soon boast new life, in the form of an $80 million-plus jump start, state officials said at Transportation Board meetings Wednesday and Thursday.

HI: Average statewide gas price up for fifth straight week to $3.35

By Staff Reports

The average price of a gallon of regular gas in Hawaii rose for the fifth consecutive week to $3.35 a gallon, according to the AAA Hawaii Weekend Gas Watch.

HI: State gets $1.24M in federal funding to promote 'green' jobs

By Staff Reports

The state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations said it has been awarded $1.24 million in federal funds to be used in developing an information bank to facilitate job training, job search and placement in "green jobs."

HI: Senate Dems endorse Lingle plan to use rainy day fund to reduce furloughs

By Staff Reports

State Senate Democrats have endorsed Gov. Linda Lingle's plan to use $50 million from the rainy day fund to help reduce teacher furlough days.

HI: School board approves bus fare increase

By Loren Moreno

Public school parents will pay more for their kids to ride the school bus come next year after the state Board of Education voted 8-2 tonight to raise one-way fares from 35 cents to 75 cents.

IA: Culver delivers sober message on school money

By Charlotte Eby

Iowa Gov. Chet Culver delivered a somber budget lesson to school board members from across the state Thursday, but argued financial constraints offer a historic opportunity for reforms.

IA: $1.1 million award helps Iowa train for green jobs

By Philip Brasher

The state has been awarded $1.1 million by the Labor Department to study the state's supply and demand for labor in alternative energy and other sectors.

IA: Iowa City stem cell company gets state grant

By Staff and Wire Reports

Cellular Engineering Technologies of Iowa City received $50,000 from the state Thursday to develop a more efficient technology platform to make adult stem cells for use in medical research, drug development and clinical therapy.

IA: Culver -- It's time for school reform

By Staci Hupp

Gov. Chet Culver said today that Iowa will go after up to $175 million in federal money for schools, but there are strings attached: Schools in Iowa must change.

IA: Culver calls for tax break review in wake of film fiasco

By Jason Clayworth

Gov. Chet Culver ordered a review Thursday of 30 state tax credit incentives in the wake of a criminal probe into Iowa's film program, a dire budget forecast and an explosion in the tax breaks' costs.

ID: ITD hires new director

By Ben Botkin

The Idaho Transportation Department has a new director, just days after the former director sued the state agency over her firing.

ID: Home starts plunge across the nation and in the Valley

By Staff and Wire Reports

Construction of U.S. homes unexpectedly plummeted last month to its lowest point since April, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.

ID: 1 in 10 Idaho babies born prematurely

By Colleen Lamay

Kristi Burke was just 25 weeks into her pregnancy in 1999 when she awoke in the night doubled over with pain.

IL: State senator would consider leasing tollway

By Joseph Ryan

State Sen. Bill Brady, a Bloomington Republican, says he would consider selling the Illinois tollway to a private company if elected to the state's top post, putting him at odds with at least one challenger in the GOP primary for governor.

IL: RTA OKs Quinn's emergency plan for CTA

By Richard Wronski

The vote by the RTA board was unanimous, although it was clear that some directors were uncomfortable with the plan.

IL: Rosemont -- Balmoral Avenue closer to getting exit ramp from Tri-State Tollway

By Jon Hilkevitch

Rosemont-based Christopher B. Burke Engineering Ltd. received an additional $2.1 million in business from the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority.

IN: Indiana wants stimulus cash for schools

By Deanna Martin, Associated Press Writer

Indiana hopes to win $250 million or more in competitive federal stimulus grants for schools — money the state superintendent says it deserves because of recent changes lawmakers made to education policies.

IN: DOC defends pilot program reducing lunches at Plainfield Correctional Facility

By John Tuohy

The medium security prison in Hendricks County has eliminated lunch on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays -- part of a pilot program that could go statewide.

KS: Kansas audit -- Teachers' hall of fame lost $251K in 3 years

By The Associated Press

An audit in Kansas shows that the National Teachers Hall of Fame lost nearly $251,000 from 2006 through 2008.

KS: Statehouse Live -- More higher education cuts expected, regents say

By Scott Rothschild

The Kansas Board of Regents on Wednesday retreated from its request for a funding increase, said it would not appeal a flat budget recommendation, but indicated it expected further and significant cuts.

KS: 'Tough, hard' cuts on way for higher ed

By Scott Rothschild

Preparing for another round of budget cuts, the Kansas Board of Regents on Wednesday started to tamp down expectations.

KS: Official -- Repealing tax exemptions would help finance state services

By Scott Rothschild

A top official in Gov. Mark Parkinson's administration on Wednesday said Kansas needs to repeal some tax exemptions to provide the revenue needed to fund crucial state services.

KY: State jobless rate rises to 11.2 percent

By Scott Sloan

Kentucky's unemployment rate rose in October to 11.2 percent, but the state saw an overall net gain in jobs.

KY: Latest death brings H1N1 toll to 30 in Kentucky

By The Associated Press

BURLINGTON, Ky. — A northern Kentucky woman in her 30s has died from complications related to swine flu.

KY: Kentucky PSC recommends ways to prevent power outages

By Patrick Howington

The Kentucky Public Service Commission offered a broad — and expensive — set of recommendations Thursday to limit power outages and ease recovery when the lights go out.

LA: Strain -- State still waiting for funds

By Sarah Chacko

The state agriculture department should have nearly all of $44.5 million in disaster recovery grants and loans in farmers' hands by Christmas, the head of the agency told legislators Thursday.

LA: Lombardi pitches higher ed bailout

By Jordan Blum

LSU System President John Lombardi is satirically proposing a federal bailout for higher education nationwide.

LA: In New Orleans, elation over Katrina liability ruling

By Campbell Robertson

NEW ORLEANS — Since the first days after Hurricane Katrina, when the streets were still under water, many residents of New Orleans and its surroundings have maintained that the flood that wrecked their lives was the government's fault, and that the government should pay for it.

MA: State ready to fill in Big Dig's missing links

By Peter DeMarco

It was touted as the Big Dig's greatest open-space gift to Boston: a spectacular ribbon of parks, paths, and pedestrian footbridges linking the Esplanade to both the Rose Kennedy Greenway and Boston Harbor. But when the Central Artery/Tunnel Project officially wrapped up two years ago, only half of what was promised had been built.

MA: Highway toll foes fall short on signatures

By Staff Reports

Massachusetts voters will not get a chance to decide on a proposed ballot question to eliminate tolls in Massachusetts.

MA: No agreement, no $147m upgrade

By Meghan E. Irons

Massachusetts has missed an opportunity to tap into as much as $147 million in grant money available under the federal stimulus package because of a deep disagreement between the Patrick administration and residents of Roxbury and Mattapan.

MA: State slashes aid for struggling homeowners

By Patrick Cassidy

HYANNIS, Mass. — For Cape Cod families on the edge of homelessness, the holiday season just got harder.

MA: Gov. Deval Patrick to Legislature -- Get back to work

By Hillary Chabot

A steamed Gov. Deval Patrick slammed lawmakers yesterday for abruptly clocking out and taking an early holiday break as pending education and crime reforms along with budget cuts hang in the balance.

MA: Charles Baker cooks up plan to cut pension abuse

By Hillary Chabot

Job-hopping to inflate state pensions and out-the-door parachutes higher than $90,000 will be banned under a new proposal by Republican gubernatorial candidate Charles Baker, as a Herald review shows the number of retirees raking in that much or more shot up 30 percent this year.

MA: Jobless rate drops in Bay State

By The Associated Press

The Massachusetts unemployment rate fell last month for the first time in nearly 2Â½ years as the job market was spurred by expansion in the science, health and business services sectors.

MD: The mortgage crisis deepens

By Jamie Smith Hopkins

BALTIMORE -- The mortgage crisis has worsened to the point that about one in every 10 prime borrowers in Maryland and nationwide -- homeowners judged to be good credit risks -- were behind on payments in September.

MD: State slashes budget by $362M

By Liam Farrell

The latest round of state budget cuts imposed yesterday will limit student financial aid, slice Medicaid payments to hospitals and even reduce commuter bus trips for state employees when the legislature is not in session.

MD: Port of Baltimore to get multi-million-dollar upgrade

By Michael Dresser

BALTIMORE, Md. -- Gov. Martin O'Malley is expected to announce today that a company will invest hundreds of millions of dollars to upgrade the port of Baltimore - a project likely to bring thousands of jobs to the city.

ME: NH real estate experts say housing sales up

By The Associated Press

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- New statistics show that New Hampshire's real estate market is in the midst of a slow and steady recovery.

ME: New budget woes may shut down rural courthouses

By Kevin Miller

Maine's chief justice said Thursday that she is hopeful the judicial branch can find ways to weather the next round of deep budget cuts without closing courthouses in rural areas of the state.

ME: Election money may be scant

By Kevin Miller

The prospect that Maine's clean election fund could run dry before the November 2010 elections is causing some concerns among gubernatorial candidates hoping to tap into the program.

MI: U.S. jobless rate to peak at 10.4%, but job growth to be tepid, University of Michigan economists say

By Sven Gustafson

The U.S. unemployment rate will plateau at 10.4 percent in early 2010 and dip to 9.5 percent by the end of 2011 as job growth lags output, University of Michigan economists said Thursday.

MI: All Emergency Unemployment Compensation extensions set to expire Dec. 31 unless Congress enacts new extensions

By Sven Gustafson

There's another problem with the unemployment extensions signed into law earlier this month: The legislation does nothing to address the fact that all of the Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits program all expire at the end of the year.

MI: Governor Jennifer Granholm suggests GVSU students 'fire' lawmakers who don't back Michigan Promise scholarships

By Dave Murray

ALLENDALE, Mich. -- Rallying to restore funding to the Michigan Promise scholarships, Gov. Jennifer Granholm told Grand Valley State University students that lawmakers work for them -- and they can be fired for not doing what the boss says.

MI: New report shows Michigan tax system unfair, but reactions continue along partisan lines

By Jeff Cranson

Without exception, every business advocacy organization, special interest group and partisan of any stripe screams these days for some sort of change in Michigan's governmental structure.

MI: Michigan Secretary of State plans branch closings

By Scott Davis

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- The Secretary of State branch in downtown East Lansing will close as early as next year under a plan to consolidate branch locations in 11 counties statewide.

MI: College students stung by Promise Scholarship cuts

By Karen Bouffard

With just weeks before the end of the fall semester many college students are unsure if Promise Scholarship money will be available for next term or how they might replace the funding.

MI: Another property tax blow on horizon

By John Wisely

Michigan home values have taken a nose dive in the past two years, and experts say commercial and industrial property values are about to do the same.

MI: Bills aim to force pay cuts

By Dawson Bell

Calling it "another option to consider" in addressing the financial crisis gripping Michigan's public schools, an Oakland County lawmaker wants to empower the state schools superintendent to make unilateral cuts to the pay and benefits for school employees under some circumstances.

MN: Lowry Bridge, Saints, Como Zoo fighting for your money

By Pat Doyle

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- The Great Culling Process has begun as legislators, mindful that labor is cheap now, decide which projects should get state help.

MN: Property tax forecast -- up, but not as much

By Bill Salisbury

Property taxes would increase an average of 3.5 percent across Minnesota next year if local governments adopt their proposed levies, the state Revenue Department announced Thursday.

MN: Mortgage crisis hits prime borrowers

By Christopher Snowbeck

More prime borrowers in Minnesota fell behind on mortgage payments during the third quarter, according to a report released Thursday, as delinquencies and bank foreclosures nationally hit record highs.

MN: State says it needs more than stimulus

By The Associated Press

The state Department of Transportation said in its 20-year plan, released this week, that federal economic stimulus money does not solve immediate or long-term funding needs.

MO: Mo. gov. to detail community college funding plan

By The Associated Press

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon is to announce plans for funding the state's community colleges.

MO: Mo. public defender system topic at attorney forum

By The Associated Press

Missouri's public defender system is expected to be a hot topic of discussion Friday as attorneys convene in Jefferson City.

MO: Missouri pensions board will select law firms for suits

By Virginia Young

Rejecting allegations that they were setting up a "pay-to-play" system, Missouri officials laid the groundwork Thursday for filing lawsuits to recoup investment losses by the state's pension plan.

MS: Universities worry about effects of merger talk

By Elizabeth Crisp

University leaders say they worry that talk of mergers will impact their ability to recruit students and raise money during a time when both are needed.

MS: Lawmakers' trips hit amid revenue crunch

By Elizabeth Crisp

Senate leaders have eliminated all taxpayer-funded out-of-state travel for the rest of the fiscal year. Meanwhile, the House is considering a proposal to limit its members to one out-of-state trip each this fiscal year, said House Management Committee Chair J.P. Compretta, D-Bay St. Louis.

MS: Miss. Governor's Mansion gets nearly $50K touchup

By Emily Wagster Pettus, The Associated Press

NASCAR fans are helping the Mississippi Governor's Mansion get a small facelift.

MS: Miss. levee board sues EPA over flood project

By The Associated Press

GREENVILLE, Miss. -- Environmental groups have intervened in a lawsuit filed by a Mississippi levee board over the Environmental Protection Agency's veto of a $220 million flood control project that dates back decades.

MT: Study -- Montana's richest pay less in taxes than low-, middle-income families

By Charles S. Johnson

Montana's low- and middle-income families pay a larger share of their income in state and local taxes, on average, than do the state's richest households, a new national study concludes.

MT: Montana's Children -- Healthy, but poor, study shows

By Jennifer McKee

First, the good news, and there's a lot of it: Montana's children are healthier than kids in the rest of the country.

NC: UNC tuition hike too small, some say

By Eric Ferreri

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Students at UNC-Chapel Hill will continue to pay far less for their educations than peers at most of the campus's competitors under a tuition plan approved Thursday. And that, some say, is a problem.

NC: Doctor is brusque. Patient complains. Doctor fires back.

By Sarah Avery

Dr. Earl Sunderhaus, an Asheville eye doctor, has what might charitably be described as a brusque bedside manner. That much is not in dispute. But the N.C. Medical Board may decide Sunderhaus overstepped the bounds of decency when he recently told a patient she was irresponsible for being unemployed, on Medicaid, and relying on taxpayers to cover another pregnancy after giving birth less than a year earlier.

NC: Prisoners allege sex abuse

By Mandy Locke

Four female inmates have filed a federal class-action lawsuit accusing North Carolina prison officials of subjecting female prisoners to extensive sexual violence and harassment amounting to cruel and unusual punishment.

NC: Stam sees a chance for eminent domain bill

By Benjamin Niolet and Rob Christensen

The departure of state Sen. Tony Rand has a lot of people wondering how the Senate will operate without the powerful master of rules, legislative maneuvers and hardball politics. It even has state Rep. Paul Stam wondering whether he'll finally get a favorite bill passed in the Senate.

NE: Senators will work around Heineman's schedule to wrap up session

By JoAnne Young

Gov. Dave Heineman called 49 senators to Lincoln 2 1/2 weeks ago to find a solution to a budget crisis. He met with the Appropriations Committee and other key committee chairs Nov. 2, and held briefings with others, to outline his proposal to cut the two-year budget to fill a gap in revenue. Then, according to a few senators, he more or less disappeared.

NE: UNL and witch settle lawsuit

By The Associated Press

A woman who sued the University of Nebraska last year, saying the school fired her because she is a witch, has agreed to settle the case for $40,000.

NE: McGill named head of Urban Affairs Committee

By JoAnne Young

Lincoln Sen. Amanda McGill was elected Thursday to chair the Legislature's Urban Affairs Committee. She will succeed Omaha Sen. Mike Friend, who resigned this summer to become the first director of the state's Office of Violence Prevention.

NH: NH real estate experts say housing sales up

By The Associated Press

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- New statistics show that New Hampshire's real estate market is in the midst of a slow and steady recovery.

NJ: Corzine warns Christie on 'unenviable' budget choices

By Cynthia Burton

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Gov. Corzine's voice wavered as he choked out the words: "From the bottom of my heart, serving you as a U.S. senator and as governor have been the highest points of my life."

NJ: Dem leader -- Economy trumps gay marriage

By Staff Reports

Following a dust-up over gay marriage in which he said he was taken out of context, Senate Majority Leader Stephen Sweeney said it would be irresponsible for Democrats to bring a bill to vote if they are not sure it will pass.

NJ: Christie lays down his law for state

By Staff Reports

In his first major speech since Election Day, Gov.-elect Chris Christie told local officials yesterday they better step up and become part of the solution, or he would become their problem.

NJ: Corzine urges N.J.'s local leaders to share more services

By John Reitmeyer

Governor Corzine made his parting plea to a ballroom full of mayors and other local elected officials: Confront the redundancies inherent in the 566 different municipal governments.

NM: Questions surround State Investment Council money manager

By Trip Jennings

Hassan Nemazee, a longtime Democratic moneyman, was arrested last August and later accused of perpetrating a $292 million Ponzi scheme.

NM: State mulls reducing Medicaid coverage

By Barry Massey, The Associated Press

Gov. Bill Richardson's administration is proposing to overhaul Medicaid and scale back health care services to some lower-income New Mexicans to cope with a projected budget shortfall of $300 million next year in the state's largest health care program.

NM: Soft drink taxes could raise a lot of dough

By Marjorie Childress

The second meeting of Governor Bill Richardson's budget balancing task force happened today.

NM: Audit -- Suspect spending in school districts

By Steve Terrell

Three sport utility vehicles purchased for school administrators from an out-of-state dealer.

NV: Welfare told to sign contract but not given the money to pay for it

By Geoff Dornan

Lawmakers on Thursday told state Welfare Administrator Romaine Gilliland to sign a $10.7 million contract even though they withheld part of the money to pay for it.

NV: State sells $131 million in bonds

By Staff Reports

Nevada Treasurer Kate Marshall has announced the sale of $130.9 million in general obligation bonds at one of the lowest interest rates ever.

NV: Lawmakers defer action on prison furlough plan

By Geoff Dornan

The Interim Finance Committee on Thursday deferred action on a plan to allow the Department of Corrections to avoid furloughs.

NV: The Strip -- License approved for Aria

There was never any doubt Thursday whether Nevada gaming regulators would approve a casino license for the centerpiece resort inside the $8.5 billion CityCenter development.

NY: Governor -- 'There is no deal'

By Casey Seiler

The work goes on, but the legislators are gone. Members of the state Senate and Assembly left the Capitol on Thursday with plans to return on Monday -- if, that is, their leaders manage to hammer out a package to close the state's estimated $3.2 billion budget deficit.

NY: Governor extends buyout window; agencies asked to let workers sign up

By Rick Karlin

As part of the ongoing effort to trim the payroll and save money, Gov. David Paterson is extending a $20,000 buyout offer to state workers.

NY: Aid to help businesses hit by closed bridge

By Bob Gardinier

The state will provide nearly $3 million in economic assistance to businesses affected by last month's closing of the Champlain Bridge, a major link between New York and Vermont.

NY: Capital Region unemployment remains at record levels

By Chris Churchill

The Capital Region's unemployment rate in October was seven percent, the state Department of Labor said today.

OH: Bill aims to help workers due pay

By Jim Siegel

Senate Democrats say it's time to expand the state's ability to investigate and resolve instances in which workers are not paid wages owed them.

OH: Republican duo says new Ohio casinos need proper regulations, no felons

By Aaron Marshall

So they are proposing what they see as sensible regulations for Ohio's casinos that include background checks on owners and key employees designed to bar felons from being involved in Ohio's newest foray into gambling.

OH: Casino issue won big with absentee voters

By Mark Niquette

Voters who cast an absentee ballot in the Nov. 3 election generally were much more likely to support the statewide issue authorizing casinos than those who went to the polls Election Day, final unofficial results show.

OH: Slot-like machines in a legal muddle

By James Nash

Attorney General Richard Cordray's office insists that it cannot decide whether slot-like Sweepstakes machines are legal in Ohio because courts haven't ruled on the devices.

OK: University President David Boren praises women's gifts to OU

By James S. Tyree

NORMAN, Okla. — Of the $1.6 billion in private donations made to the University of Oklahoma in the past 15 years, OU President David Boren said, "I can count with one hand the number of major gift donations that were all male.

OR: Tax measures represent next economic crossroads

By Peter Wong

With Oregon's economy and tax collections apparently stabilizing, the next development affecting state services and aid to public schools will hinge on how Oregon voters decide the Legislature's budget-balancing tax measures Jan. 26.

OR: Has Oregon's economy bottomed out?

By Peter Wong

Oregon's economic downturn might have hit bottom, Oregon's state economist told lawmakers Thursday.

OR: OSU faculty face mandatory furloughs

By Cheryl Hatch

Under the proposal, faculty members will have to take a minimum of three unpaid days and a maximum of 12, depending on their salaries and whether they're on nine-month or 12-month contracts.

OR: Curtain dropping on Oregon's recession

By Michelle Cole

Oregon's recession is over. Or nearly over, state economist Tom Potiowsky declared Thursday.

OR: Oregon OKs $20 million settlement in college savings plan suit

By Brent Hunsberger

Thousands of investors in Oregon's hard-hit college savings plan will recoup some of their losses under the terms of a $20 million legal settlement approved Thursday.

OR: regon OKs $20 million settlement in college savings plan suit

By Brent Hunsberger

Thousands of investors in Oregon's hard-hit college savings plan will recoup some of their losses under the terms of a $20 million legal settlement approved Thursday.

PA: State October jobless rate flat

By Ann Belser

In recent months Pennsylvania has been in step with the nation in terms of unemployment, staying about a point behind the national rate as both rates slowly ticked up.

PA: State taking heat for 'chaotic' flu shots

By Steve Twedt

In the last several weeks, as the H1N1 flu has swept through the nation and health officials scrambled to find scarce vaccine, questions have been raised about how Pennsylvania chose to handle the process of distributing the limited doses available.

PA: Some don't report how stimulus funds spent

By Tom Fontaine

Stung by criticism over data showing billions in federal stimulus money going to nonexistent congressional districts in Pennsylvania and other states, the government corrected its Web site created to track the money.

PA: Rendell revises gaming claim

By Brad Bumsted

Gov. Ed Rendell on Thursday backed off his claim the FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office investigated the state gambling board's award of slot licenses in 2006 and found nothing.

RI: R.I. jobless rate dips, but 73,000 are still out of work

By Cynthia Needham

For the first time in nearly three years, Rhode Island's unemployment rate dropped, to 12.9 percent in October, offering a faint but reassuring sign that the state's economy may be on the road to improvement.

SC: Sanford relents on ethics report

By Staff and Wire Reports

Gov. Mark Sanford agreed Thursday to remove the last hurdle to a long-delayed House of Representatives impeachment investigation of his travel and campaign expenses.

SC: Ethics panel votes to charge Sanford

By John O'Connor

Gov. Mark Sanford agreed Thursday to remove the last hurdle to a long-delayed House of Representatives impeachment investigation of his travel and campaign expenses.

SC: Harrell promised copy of Gov. Sanford ethics investigation report

By Tim Smith

Some lawmakers want to see more detail about ethics charges facing Gov. Mark Sanford before making up their minds, while others say they are disturbed by the State Ethics Commission's finding that the governor violated state ethics laws in his travels and campaign expenses.

SC: Role of black colleges in higher education touted

By Wayne Washington

The presidents of six colleges and universities in South Carolina met Thursday morning with the chief executive officer of a private foundation that has given at least $2 million to a pair of historically black colleges and universities in this state.

SD: SD employers continue to benefit from work tax credit program

By Staff Reports

The South Dakota Department of Labor says $5.7 million in tax credits were provided to employers in the state through the Work Opportunity Tax Credit program in federal fiscal year 2009, ending Sept. 30.

SD: DOT -- Highway tax hike unlikely

By Bob Mercer

The Legislature will be presented a package of proposed tax increases for highway funding in the 2010 session, but state Transportation Secretary Darin Bergquist said Thursday he doesn't foresee lawmakers coming up with any more money for road maintenance and projects.

TN: UK goes smoke-free

By Bruce Schreiner, The Associated Press

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Kentucky's flagship public university gave the official heave-ho to tobacco on Thursday, touting the health benefits of a smoke-free policy covering all of its sprawling campus in the heart of burley tobacco country.

TN: TN colleges brace for cuts, tuition hike

By Jennifer Brooks

Higher education institutions in Tennessee are bracing for another round of budget cuts and tuition increases next year.

TN: TN budget cuts could close longtime institution for people with severe disabilities

By Chas Sisk

The only state institution in Middle Tennessee for people with severe intellectual disabilities could be closed under a plan introduced Thursday to cut spending.

TN: TVA price increases fuel higher tax payments

By Dave Flessner

Higher electricity prices may have squeezed recession-weary consumers in the past two years, but the higher TVA rates are helping to funnel more money into state and local government coffers.

TN: Water quality penalty expected next year

By Cliff Hightower

Chattanooga could be fined as early as next spring for not living up to the standards of its water quality permit, a Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation official said Thursday.

TX: Settlement delay costs HISD $82 million

By Ericka Mellon

Houston ISD schools have gone without at least $82 million for technology upgrades while the district is under federal investigation for questionable deals with computer equipment vendors.

TX: Heritage Society opposes addition to Governor's Mansion

By Chuck Lindell

The Heritage Society of Austin, a leading proponent for rebuilding the fire-gutted Governor's Mansion, will not support recently revealed plans for a two-story addition to the 153-year-old building.

TX: Who's got the swine flu vaccine?

By Tony Plohetski and Nathan Adkisson

State health officials said Thursday that they have funneled most doses — about 147,000 in Travis County — to private physicians, urgent care clinics and hospitals, where workers must decide whether patients meet the criteria to receive the scarce immunizations.

US: Mayors sound alarm over drop in city revenues

By Conor Dougherty

WASHINGTON -- Mayors from four U.S. cities said they are facing a once-in-a-generation fiscal crisis and that federal stimulus funds have, so far, been largely unhelpful in helping them balance budgets hit by steep drops in nearly every source of municipal revenue.

US: Gateses give $290 million for education

By Sam Dillon

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on Thursday announced its biggest education donation in a decade, $290 million, in support of three school districts and five charter groups working to transform how teachers are evaluated and how they get tenure.

US: Watchdog urges caution on claims of 640,000 stimulus jobs

By Michael Cooper

WASHINGTON — The government watchdog overseeing the federal stimulus program testified Thursday that he could not vouch for the Obama administration's recent claims that the money had saved or created 640,000 jobs. He suggested that the administration should have treated the number with more skepticism.

UT: Utah's unemployment rate rises to 6.5 percent

By Mike Gorrell

Another 4,500 Utahns lost jobs last month, increasing the state's unemployment rate to 6.5 percent in October.

UT: Utah oil and gas leases should be reinstated, report says

By Amy Joi O'Donoghue

A new analysis by an association representing oil and gas producers asserts the Department of the Interior thwarted the public process and "second-guessed" its own land managers when it yanked bids on oil and gas parcels sold at a controversial auction in Salt Lake City last December.

UT: Legislators intent on fixing bonus situation at trust lands agency

By Robert Gehrke

A series of bonuses given to Utah's school trust lands top officials are still in the crosshairs of legislative leaders, who are convinced the $150,000 in payments were an end-run around state budget cuts.

VA: Va. faces $3.5 billion hole in next two-year budget

By Michael Martz

PORTSMOUTH, Va. -- Local governments aren't likely to escape the pain when the General Assembly attempts to eliminate an estimated $3.5 billion hole in the next two-year budget.

VA: Virginia tax collections reflect struggling economy

By David Ress

Virginians are taking home less pay, spending less in stores and still are getting hit on their investments, new state tax-collection statistics show.

VA: Hundreds get help at service fair for the homeless

By Jeremy Slayton

The U.S. Marine Corps veteran has survived since August without a permanent roof over his head, and he understands the consequences of living on the streets.

VA: Hampton Alcoa plant lays off 250

By The Associated Press

HAMPTON, Va. -- Alcoa Howmet is laying off 250 workers, or nearly a quarter of its work force, at its Hampton manufacturing plant.

WA: State's budget hole expands to $2.6 billion

By Curt Woodward, The Associated Press

Tax increases probably can't be avoided as the state tries to patch a budget deficit that's ballooned to about $2.6 billion, top Democratic lawmakers said Thursday.

WA: Ranks of uninsured swell in state

By John Stucke

Washington state is on pace to reach a dangerous milestone within 14 months, Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler said Thursday: 1 million uninsured residents.

WA: Unpaid Wash. medical bills near $1B per year

By The Associated Press

Washington's insurance commissioner says unpaid medical bills in the state will cost about $1 billion a year by 2011.

WA: State budget gap widens

By Brad Shannon

An additional $760 million in hoped-for state revenue evaporated in the latest economic forecast, and lawmakers began talking up the pros and cons of tax increases to help plug a budget shortfall now estimated at $2.7 billion.

WA: Saving two programs funded by state focus of public forum

By Kathie Durbin

The Southwest Washington Area Agency on Aging and Disabilities will hold a public forum Saturday to build support for the preservation of two state-funded programs that help seniors and the disabled and their families.

WA: Man gets $4 million after jail beating

By Staff Reports

A man who suffered permanent brain damage from a beating by his cellmate at the Washington Corrections Center in Shelton has received a $4 million settlement from the Washington State Department of Corrections.

WA: S.C. senator -- We 'threw everything at Boeing'

By Michelle Esteban

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- South Carolina Sen. Paul Campbell, R-Goose Creek, said the tough competition from Washington state made South Carolina work even harder for the bid.

WI: Troubled mortgages at record level in state

By Thomas Content

One of every nine homeowners in Wisconsin was behind on mortgage payments or in foreclosure at the end of September - a record level that industry observers said Thursday is likely to rise.

WI: Zoo Interchange bridges need immediate replacement, inspectors say

By Tom Held

Three bridges in the Zoo Interchange have reached such dire condition that the state Department of Transportation acted Thursday to replace them, in what could be a weekend barn-raising fashion, before Memorial Day.

WV: Special session to last another day for gas-tax bill

By Phil Kabler

Legislators will spend one more day in special session, after House Republicans blocked a passage vote Thursday on a bill (SB4004) to freeze the state's gasoline tax at the current 32.2 cents a gallon.

WV: Vote block extends special session to fourth day

By Staff and Wire Reports

House Republicans on Thursday blocked the Legislature from voting on two bills sought by the Manchin administration, throwing a special session into a fourth day. In a largely symbolic move, the Republicans prevented Democrats from suspending House rules Thursday to advance one bill that would have made changes to the state gasoline tax and another to encourage the use of energy sources other than coal by state utilities.

WV: WVU Tech athletic department losing money, audit shows

By Phil Kabler

West Virginia University Institute of Technology's athletic department has a losing record when it comes to finances, running budget deficits of more than $1 million for each of the past two academic years, a legislative audit released Thursday concludes.

WV: Foster-care agencies seek higher payments

By Alison Knezevich

Private foster-care agencies in West Virginia hope state lawmakers will boost their daily payments, saying it will help them retain good foster parents and social workers who care for abused and neglected children.

WY: Revenue committee finally passes some tax bills

By Phil Noble

The legislature's Joint Interim Revenue Committee spent the day Nov. 18 killing bills, including measures calling for taxes on electric generation, wind energy, property and fuel.

WY: Committee rejects tax measures

By Bill McCarthy

The Legislature's Joint Interim Revenue Committee declined on Wednesday to sponsor any of a series of tax measures.

WY: Don't blame wind, officials say

By Dustin Bleizeffer

Power producers have installed more than 500 megawatts of wind energy generation in Wyoming in the past year.

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