Balanced Budgets
Illinois Governor to Deliver Grim Budget Proposal
While some states are increasing their spending levels for the first time since the recession began, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn will be presenting a much less optimistic scenario when he unveils his fiscal 2013 budget on Wednesday. Quinn, a Democrat, will call for the closure of several state facilities, including a “supermax” prison that opened […]
Summary of the Nevada State of the State Address
Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons (R) started off his state of the state address Feb. 8 by rattling off a series of statistics that he said reflects the recession’s “crippling hold on Nevada,” including: a 13 percent unemployment rate, a 24.5 percent drop in home values over the third quarter of 2009, a 17 percent fall […]
Summary of the Oklahoma State of the State Address
Gov. Brad Henry, a Democrat, urged members of Oklahoma’s Republican-controlled legislature to avoid painful cuts in state services by tapping into the state’s reserves to balance its budget. “I implore you to remember there are very real – and human – consequences to budget cuts. The men and women who make state government work are […]
Summary of the Utah State of the State Address
Utah Gov. Gary Herbert (R) used his first state of the state address to call on lawmakers Jan. 26 to exercise fiscal restraint and not raise taxes, but to also protect education from budget cuts. Herbert took office last August after President Obama tapped former Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. (R) as U.S. ambassador to China. […]
State Budget Gaps Balloon to $97 Billion
Still reeling from high gas prices this summer and plummeting retirement savings this fall, Americans will soon be feeling the pinch in other ways – from increased tuition to potentially higher taxes, as states try to close some $97 billion in budget gaps over the next two years. States will have to find additional spending […]
Budget Woes Hit Home
Tim Watson, 42, of Guernsey, Ohio, sympathizes with state budget cutters trying to close a $1 billion gap, but thinks closing down the state mental health facility in Cambridge, Ohio, where he has worked for 24 years, is shortsighted. “It just doesn’t make sense,” said Watson, who as a caseworker will have to drive […]