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OR: A minimum wage for all Portland workers would cost more than million
An Oregon state law prohibits a minimum wage at the city level, but activists want a floor of for Portland city workers and extra taxes for businesses that pay less.
TX: Class size waivers still rampant in Texas elementary schools
Three years after Texas public schools were slammed with big funding cuts, hundreds of elementary campuses in North Texas and across the state are still struggling to comply with class size limits aimed at boosting student achievement.
MD: State approves O’Malley’s million in budget cuts
The lackluster economy prompted Gov. Martin O’Malley to propose erasing million in planned spending for next year. Just a day after the new state budget took effect, O’Malley persuaded the Board of Public Works unanimously to approve a modest set of cuts to Maryland’s .1 billion general fund.
PA: Pennsylvania ups school funds, but district officials are down
Although the .1 billion 2014-15 state spending plan approved this week by lawmakers in Harrisburg includes slightly more money for K-12 education than last year’s plan, the new dollars are fewer than what Republican Gov. Tom Corbett proposed in February, and not enough for most communities to pay their rising bills – especially pensions — without hiking taxes.
MO: Nixon vetoes 72-hour waiting period for abortions in Missouri
Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon cited the lack of an exception for victims of rape and incest.
TN: Test scores flatten for elementary, middle grades, rise in high school
Scores on Tennessee’s standardized tests show a strong bounce in most high school subjects.
NE: State paying nearly K to settle civil rights suit
Nebraska has agreed to settle a civil rights lawsuit filed by five black prison guards who alleged racially-based harassment and retaliation.
KY: Kentucky delays million in road projects
Kentucky has delayed about million in federal road projects in anticipation of a potential cash crisis in the federal Highway Trust Fund.
CT: State’s largest union endorses Gov. Malloy
Workers from all six local affiliates of the 1199 SEIU in Connecticut announced their support for Democratic Gov. Dannel Malloy and Lieutenant Gov. Nancy Wyman. The organization has more than 65,000 workers in Connecticut, and promised a massive get-out-the-vote drive on Malloy’s behalf. They praised him for his work on education, paid sick leave, and worker training programs.
CA: No grand finale for Brown’s fireworks tax proposal
Fireworks could have become more expensive under a tax proposal Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown pushed as part of his budget. Despite the fact Brown got nearly everything he wanted during this year’s budget negotiations, the fireworks tax fizzled out.
WV: W.Va. extends statewide hiring freeze indefinitely
Democratic Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin has extended a statewide hiring freeze indefinitely, despite ending the 2014 budget year with as much as a million surplus.
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