News
Sacramento Computer Woes Belie California’s High Tech Image
SACRAMENTO – In California, where the modern electronics industry was born six decades ago, state government has stumbled from one expensive computer purchasing disaster to the next. The Department of Motor Vehicles is the latest agency to fall into a quagmire of expense, delay and legislative criticism. Between 1988-94, the department spent more than $50 […]
State Tax Collections Up For Sixth Straight Year, Report Says
WASHINGTON- Spurred by an 11.2% increase in income tax collections nationwide, total state tax revenue rose 6.9% during fiscal year 1998, according to a report released today by the Center for the Study of the States. Revenue collections from income, sales, and corporate taxes exceeded original budget estimates by $11 billion dollars, and were higher […]
Study Finds Rainy Day Funds Would Dry Up In Recession
WASHINGTON – More than three-quarters of states are unprepared for even a mild future recession and need to invest more money in their rainy day funds to provide for that eventuality, according to a new report released by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal-leaning Washington think tank. “Financial woes abroad should be […]
States, Congress Weigh Medical Privacy Safeguards
WASHINGTON – Personal medical information, once thought to be safely tucked away in a manila folder in your doctor’s office, is increasingly stored in large, linked computer databases where insurance companies, drug manufacturers, courts, and in some instances employers can access it without your consent or knowledge. Currently, no federal law exists that protects the […]
1999 Year Of The Pay Raise For Many Lawmakers
WASHINGTON – Emboldened by the booming economy and robust budget surpluses, state legislators in many parts of the country are making 1999 the year of the pay raise. Lawmakers in 10 states – Maryland, Kentucky, Idaho, Illinois, California, New York, Colorado, Arizona, Massachusetts and Connecticut – will be getting fatter salaries this year. And five […]
Bush’s Prospective Candidacy Overshadows Work of Texas Legislature
AUSTIN, Texas – Lone Star state lawmakers are working their way through the biennial 140-day session of the Texas legislature under the white-hot glare of national attention generated by Republican Gov. George W. Bush’s probable presidential campaign. While insisting the legislative session is his top priority, Bush earlier this week announced the formation of a […]
Education Experts Clash Over Reform Proposals
SANTA FE, New Mexico – To the dismay of the National Education Association, the nation’s largest teachers’ union, and many U.S. educational experts, a growing number of America’s governors want to subsidize parents who send their children to private schools. Pilot voucher programs are underway in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Tax credits are offered in Iowa […]
Governors Circle Wagons Around Tobacco Billions
Tobacco, not education, was the No. 1 priority to emerge from a four-day National Governors’ Association winter meeting that ended Tuesday. Specifically, 48 state chief executives vowed to block Uncle Sam from tapping into a $246 billion settlement promised to states by tobacco companies. Governors were unified in their opposition to a federal plan to […]
States Gripped by Tax Cut Mania
As governors and legislators throughout the country reap the benefits of economic good times, record state budget surpluses and rosy state revenue projections are encouraging a tax-cutting spree. A Stateline survey indicates state governments will enact net tax reductions for an unprecedented sixth year in a row, building on a combined tax reduction in the […]
Health Care Review Infrequently Used in Many States
Consumer clamor for health care reform has state and federal lawmakers scrambling to enact pateint protection legislation before the year is out. But in over one-third of the states, laws have already been enacted that have established an independent, impartial process for appealing denials of coverage. The programs are quick, hassle-free and inexpensive, and patients […]
Health Care in America – Outlook For Change
The nation’s economic outlook is bright – unemployment is at an all-time low. income are rising, the poverty rate has declined, interest rates have plummeted – yet the number of Americans without health insurance is rapidly increasing. In 1997, an estimated 43.4 million Americans, 16 percent of the population, had no health insurance. That is […]
California Gov Aggressive on Education Reform
With public opinion polls showing education far and away the top issue among California voters, Governor Gray Davis began his new administration by calling a special session of the Legislature to enact his school overhaul package. “My first priority in fact, my first, second and third priority is education,” the 56-year-old Democrat said in his […]