14 of the state's top 25 pension recipients worked at University of Illinois Chicago College of Medicine before retiring with pensions of over $250,000 a year. At least seven of them have been hired back, at salaries of up to a $100,000 in addition to those pension payments.

Florida lawmakers in the House and Senate may be on a long road to compromise as they advance starkly different plans on overhauling the state retirement system.

Democrats on the House Finance Committee, over the objections of Republicans, approved a state budget plan that trims $57.7 million in general-fund spending from Gov. Maggie Hassan's proposed two-year budget and eliminates revenue from casino gambling.

Lawmakers need to reduce taxpayers' share of payments into Pennsylvania's major state pension funds in the next few years even if the rest of Gov. Tom Corbett's pension-overhaul proposals bog down, the governor's top budget adviser said Wednesday.

New York's Senate approved a roughly $136 billion budget that raises the minimum wage to $9 per hour over three years and offers a $350 rebate to families with children, completing the votes a little over two hours before dawn on Wednesday.

The Kansas Senate's top negotiator on taxes says canceling a scheduled decrease in the sales tax is vital to allowing future reductions in income tax rates.

The legislation would provide nearly $100 million a year to make the state's required contribution to the pension plans of state government employees. It also would create a 401(k)-like retirement plan for new employees in an effort to protect the pension plans of current employees and retirees.

Spending plan negotiations between Kansas legislators could last weeks.

As they try to patch together a state budget before the deadline next Monday, New York state officials have discovered their first problem is simply synchronizing their calendars. This week is not only Holy Week for most Christians and Passover for Jews, but also a school vacation week for many families.

Kentucky House Democrats offered a proposal Monday that would soften cuts to roads and bridges in a complicated proposal to shore up pension plans for government retirees.