The revenue projections on which Gov. Brown based his initial budget are not looking good. In March, there was a shortfall of $233.5 million in revenue, 8.2 percent below projections, according to the state controller.

The Missouri Senate signed off on a $24 billion budget plan early Wednesday that would provide a raise to the lowest-paid state workers in the nation and spare blind residents from a potential cut to their government-funded health care plan.

The reductions are largely driven by lower than expected income tax revenue, which officials told the Revenue Estimating Conference Tuesday were a sign of the lingering impacts of the national recession.

Gov. Matt Mead sent a memo to state agency directors on Friday directing them to prepare for 8-percent budget cuts in the fiscal year that starts July 2013, twice what the Wyoming Legislature had directed state agencies to prepare for earlier this year.

Supporters of expanding a state's role in various areas of the economy, at some point in time, come face to face with the disappointingly political nature of government spending and budgeting practices. The debate about how to use new revenues from California's cap-and-trade law provides an apt example.

Now that the General Assembly has finally passed a two-year, $85 billion state budget, politicians and interest groups have started picking through the details to celebrate what they like and decry what they don't.

The plan would cut spending by billions of dollars, cancel some construction projects, close one lockup and bring back 9,500 inmates housed in other states - all while meeting court orders to reduce crowding and improve medical care.

The state Legislature today is positioned to begin approving legislation completed last week by appropriations committees on budget bills that are generally thriftier than originally proposed by Gov. Rick Snyder.

Gov. Scott Walker said Monday that his policies had saved Wisconsin taxpayers more than $1 billion so far - savings largely achieved by the Republican governor and lawmakers repealing most public workers' union bargaining and effectively lowering their compensation.

The measure would have reduced the rate to 5 percent, phased in over a three-year period, beginning in July 2013.

It's been 12 months since Gov. Jerry Brown announced his proposals to reform the public pension system, yet action on his 12-point plan that increases the retirement age has been slow.

A decision to cut the interest rate that thousands of Ohio police officers and firefighters earn on their retirement accounts isn't sitting well with some, despite contentions that the payout is too expensive.

Higher education is getting more scrutiny than usual this year, due to Christie's plan to reconfigure the state's higher education institutions.

The Senate's 20 united Democrats took a black eye Tuesday when they initially blocked passage by demanding more money for the Dulles rail project in the Democrat-friendly suburbs of Washington, D.C. They lost when one of their own switched his vote Wednesday, allowing the budget to pass.

Gov. Rick Scott vetoed four budget-related measures Friday, including one designed to shore up the state hurricane catastrophe fund by selling tax credits to insurance companies.
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/04/21/2760503/scott-vetoes-four-budget-related.html#storylink=cpy

Gov. Pat Quinn today unveiled his plan to cut public pension costs, calling on government workers to pay more, the retirement age to be raised and cost-of-living adjustments tightened.

Senate President Pro Tem Brian Bingman said Thursday that lawmakers could have less to spend in crafting a state budget as a result of declining natural gas prices.

For the first time, states brought in more in quarterly tax revenue than they collected before the recession, but a slowdown in state-revenue growth and persistent pension problems mean that the nation's continuing budget messes are far from over.

Most of the cuts are a result of privatizing liquor sales and distribution in the state, but some jobs will also be cut from the Department of Social and Health Services.

Important as education may be to both Democrats and Republicans, time and money are both running out in Iowa.