Indiana Gov. Mike Pence submitted an austere first budget, with slight increases for areas like education and a large reserve set aside to cover his proposed cut in the personal income tax.

Even with a $550 million increase in the state budget next year, spending remains down more than $1 billion from where it was when the recession started affecting tax coffers in 2008.

The latest report on Illinois' worst-in-the-nation pension systems shows not only huge losses in value, but a fundamental imbalance that is bankrupting the state.

Gov. Martin O'Malley released a $37.3 billion state budget that for the first time since he took office more than six years ago would require no new taxes or significant cuts to finish the year in the black.

Governor wants Kansas Legislature to end mortgage deduction but extend sales tax.

Put-of-control spending is the main reason North Carolina, Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger is skeptical about expanding Medicaid as part of the national Affordable Care Act reforms.

Audits of Illinois' five state-funded systems released Wednesday show the net assets of the systems dropped by nearly $1.5 billion during the budget year that ended June 30, 2012.

On the longer-term obligations, the state has not begun to save toward obligations for future retirees as some cities such as San Diego have begun to do.

Maryland is still waiting to see what happens in Washington, as Congress wrestles with deep spending cuts in coming weeks. Federal budget cuts can have a big impact on the state, due to the state's proximity to the nation's capital.

The top priority for the state House and Senate leaders who crafted the 2014-15 budget bills was to clean up the accounting mess left from 2011.