During a press conference this morning to tout his latest state budget plan, Gov. Jerry Brown said that he wants to hold down state payroll costs as his administration bargains new pacts with nearly a dozen unions.

Hawaii lawmakers took modest steps to address the state's record $25-billion in unfunded liabilities during the 2012 and 2013 legislative sessions but taxpayer watchdogs are critical that not enough is being done to address looming debts.

Hanging in the balance is a fix for Illinois' worst-in-the-nation pension debt that's approaching $100 billion and gobbling up money that could be spent on education and the state's large stack of unpaid bills.

There are always stumbling blocks and areas of disagreement that have to be resolved as the budget process advances. This year in Michigan, those topics include funding for roads, health care and education -- among other topics.

Legislators in the Florida House are set to pass a bill to end traditional guaranteed pensions for future state and county employees along with teachers.

Current legislation on labor unions and collective bargaining is available in a searchable database. You can search all collective bargaining or labor union related bills.

To level the playing field between governmentemployee unions and taxpayers, elimination of dues checkoff and the agency shop are possible steps to take. In fact, these may be more politically palatable, and ultimately more effective, avenues of reform than are restrictions on collective bargaining. Eliminating the public-sector union’s money advantage would let workers retain their right to negotiate with their employers but put them on a level playing field in the political arena. It is the way to restore fairness to the process.

Union affiliation of employed wage and salary workers by state, 2010-2011 annual averages

The issue facing states around the nation is not a traditional private sector dispute between labor and management. It is a question of important public policy and whether states can afford agreements for government employees' salaries and benefits.  The numbers from State Budget Solutions show that the answer is no.

Thanks to union expense reporting requirements and the accessibility of the Internet, we can get a glimpse into the compensation packages of top union officials in Illinois.

There are three important lessons from the Wisconsin collective bargaining battles over the past eighteen months:

1. The power of the government-sector unions and their impact on elections is greatly overestimated. With the November 2012 victory for  Senate Republicans to regain control of the Wisconsin Senate,  government employee union  suffered their sixth  major defeat since March 2011.

2. When given a choice, government employees will quit their union in large numbers.

3. Government employees' salaries and benefits, particularly pensions, are financially unsustainable in most states and collective bargaining reform is needed.

This paper examines the ongoing fiscal crisis caused by health-care plans for retirees (known as "other post-employment benefits," or OPEB) in one of the hardest-hit states, California, and outlines necessary reforms that should come before tax increases or cuts to government services.

Public officials can help alleviate their budget crunches by offering competitive, not exorbitant benefits.

Advocating for collective bargaining reforms because unless base compensation adjustmentst happen, taxes will have to go up.

Ten ideas to cut waste and balance the buget without raising taxes, including more efficient K-12 funding, spending high education tax dollars more wisely and rein in state employee salaries and benefits.