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Nineteen States to Honor Government Workers
State government employees rarely make headlines, and when they do, the news is often bad. That’s especially true in these cash-strapped times, when layoffs, postponed pay raises, cries of inefficiency and marches on state capitols are all the public ever hears about the nation’s more than 2 million state government employees. But Wednesday, May 7, […]
States Cut Historical Preservation Funds
The mission of state historical societies is to preserve the past for future generations. But in the face of deep budget cuts, many historical societies are fighting to preserve their own futures. Facing cuts of 10, 15 and even 20 percent, historical societies in many states are planning layoffs, reducing visiting hours at historical sites […]
States Making Deep Budget Cuts, New Report Shows
A long hoped-for recovery in state fiscal prospects is nowhere in sight, and lawmakers are making deep cuts in education and healthcare for the poor, a report released Thursday (4/24) by the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) says. Here is a sampling of proposed and enacted cuts reported by NCSL for fiscal year 2004, […]
Tax Bite Big in Maine, Small in Alaska
Alaska and Maine are far apart geographically, but their tax burdens represent an even bigger divide — Maine residents have the nation’s highest state and local tax burden, 12.2 percent of income, while Alaska residents have the nation’s lowest, 5.5 percent. The tax burden calculations come from the Tax Foundation, a conservative lobbying group in […]
Security Funding Formula Under Attack
When New York Gov. George Pataki (R) questioned the fairness of the federal government’s distribution of homeland security funds last week, he broke the seal of silence on what might be called the “Minnetonka problem.” Put as a question: Does Minnetonka, Minn., population 51,301, along with other small communities and states, actually need funding for […]
Budget Crisis Spurs Innovation, Reform
When Virginia Gov. Mark Warner (D), an ex-telecommunications executive, took office two years ago, he asked his staff how much the state spent on information technology each year. No one knew. Their best guess was between $500 million and $1 billion. Nine months later, after an intensive review of computer operations in dozens of state […]
On the Record: North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley (D)
Q. North Carolina entered this crisis earlier than most states. How come? EASLEY: What happened here was we had that big flood in 1999 and that cost us just about $1 billion. We got about $400 million from the federal government, but we still had to come up with about $500 million. That’s just as […]
On the Record: Virginia Gov. Mark Warner (D)
Q: How did information technology (IT) reform become a major part of your agenda? WARNER: In IT, it’s because of my background [as a telecommunications executive]. There had been many reports of duplication in IT. It took me nine months to get a straight answer as to how much money the state spends each year […]
Governors Scramble for Soundbites to Decry Budget Crisis
Politicians generally gloss over bad news like hikers trying to tiptoe past a grizzly bear. But with states from Maine to California facing some of their worst fiscal problems in a generation, the nation’s governors have been forced to confront the bear head-on. Many of them have been using near-apocalyptic rhetoric to brace constituents for […]
Budget Crisis Spurs Scary Soundbites
Politicians generally gloss over bad news like hikers trying to tiptoe past a grizzly bear. But with states from Maine to California facing some of their worst fiscal problems in a generation, the nation’s governors have been forced to confront the bear head-on. Many of them have been using near-apocalyptic rhetoric to brace constituents for […]
Winners and Losers in State Budgets
In a sign of just how bleak state fiscal prospects have become, some analysts consider K-12 education a winner in the state budget game despite the fact that fourteen states have already cut spending in the sector this year. “A winner, on a relative scale, has got to be K-12 education,” said Scott Pattison, executive […]
States Caught in Fiscal Storm, NCSL Says
historic budget crisis in the states is getting worse by the day and shows no signs of letting up anytime soon, according to a report released Tuesday by the National Conference of State Legislatures. Collectively, states face budget deficits approaching $26 billion in the current fiscal year, which ends June 30 for most states. This […]