In an effort to put pressure on Congressional Republicans, the White House warned on Sunday that automatic budget cuts scheduled to take effect this week would have a devastating impact on programs for people of all ages in every state.

The Virginia General Assembly ended its annual session Saturday with passage of a sweeping transportation deal, handing Gov. Robert F. McDonnell a qualified victory on an issue that has vexed the state for a generation but that also puts him at odds with the conservative wing of his party.

Tennessee may be contributing much less to state employee retirement accounts in the future based on a state plan to convert to a defined contribution plan.

In 2045, federal revenues could equal 18.5 percent of the nation's gross domestic product, according to this CBO view. That includes all sources of federal revenue, including income taxes and corporate taxes as well as payroll taxes that are supposed to cover Social Security and a portion of Medicare.

Savings from cuts to the Illinois Medicaid program have fallen short by $464 million, about 30 percent of the expected $1.6 billion in projected savings that Gov. Pat Quinn pushed for last year.

The LAO report calls this approach "a serious departure from our longstanding view of how revenues are to be treated for the purposes of Proposition 98," and says it "is directly contrary to what the voters were told in the official voter guide as to how the revenues would be treated."

Since 2005, the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, also known as Cal Fire, has paid the nonprofit California District Attorneys Association to house a special fund for training seminars and high-tech investigatory equipment. The fund collected $3.6 million overall and is being dissolved this month at the nonprofit's request.

Gov. Rick Scott said Wednesday he supports expanding Medicaid and funneling billions of federal dollars to Florida, a significant policy reversal that could bring health care coverage to 1 million additional Floridians.

Delays by the state in implementing higher Medi-Cal reimbursements could cost the Los Angeles Fire Department $15 million this year in both lost revenue and productivity gains, city officials were told Wednesday.

The cuts, known in the parlance of budgetary legislation as "sequestration," would shave $1.2 trillion from federal spending over nine years. The first trim, to take effect March 1, amounts to $85 billion through the end of the fiscal year in September.