Gov. Pat Quinn challenged lawmakers to approve a $1-a-pack increase in the cigarette tax and accept major cuts in Medicaid, but many Democrats and Republicans view the plan as more a work in progress than a final deal.

Colorado senators turned a final budget vote Thursday into a pep rally of sorts as lawmakers from both parties heaped praise on the $7.4 billion spending plan for next year.

After voting against the $85 billion budget needed to fund Virginia government three times over the past two months, the state Senate abruptly took up and passed the spending plan Wednesday after a senior Democratic lawmaker broke ranks.

Faced for the first time with the various rules on the Maine governor's line-item veto, legislative Republicans decided not to break up their recess in order to decide whether to let the vetoes stand.

A state Senate committee approved an education budget that reduces funding for public schools and universities, cuts teaching jobs and enlarges class sizes for the 2012-13 school year.

Trapped in a revenue wasteland, U.S. states have cut spending by $290 billion over the last five years, with the largest reductions coming this year.

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.

Scott vetoed less than he did last year, saying lawmakers had heeded his warnings to give him evidence of why the money is needed and what taxpayers would get in return.

Gov. Jerry Brown said Tuesday that the state budget deficit could increase by $1 billion or more above the $9.2 billion his administration estimated in January.

Democrats and Republicans sparred over whether a special session of the General Assembly is needed to pass tax increases to avert steep budget cuts, while Moody's Investors Service warned the situation could hurt the credit ratings of localities that depend on state aid.

Cities in New Jersey have long received the payments in exchange for having energy and utility lines and plants in their communities. But lawmakers have for years kept much of the money and used it to balance the state budget.

Democrats in the evenly divided Virginia Senate, united in protest over the exclusion of funding to mitigate tolls in Northern Virginia, today defeated the latest version of the state's two-year, $85 billion state budget.

In this article, Doylestown Wealth Management's Gregory R. Mallison, LPL financial advisor, dispels a few myths regarding public pensions, using the Pennsylvania Public School Employees Retirement Fund (PSERS) as representative of a typical public pension fund.

Gov. Rick Perry said it's important "that we don't interpret higher sales tax collections as a license to spend freely. ... There is no such thing as extra money, not when it comes out of the pockets of taxpayers."

Gov. Rick Scott will be at a Jacksonville school to boast about more state dollars going to education.

Gov. Bob McDonnell on Monday took steps to remove a major point of contention that threatens to block approval of a new two-year state budget when lawmakers return to Richmond today.

An overview for those new to public pensions explaining the structure and funding of public pensions, the benefits public pensions provide recipients and what employees are eligible for those benefits. It also provides an introduction to the crisis caused by underfunded pensions.

In his first major policy initiative since leaving the presidential campaign trail, Gov. Rick Perry will call on his fellow Texas politicians today to sign on to a pledge to cut spending, hold the line on taxes and adopt strict limits on how much government can expand in the future.

Lawmakers return from their spring break Tuesday - and back into a tug of war with Gov. Rick Snyder over the state budget that started before their vacation.

The bill which cuts government pension contribution rates for state workers is awaiting the approval of Gov. Rick Scott, who has made cutting state pension costs one of his top priorities. Scott, who has until Saturday to act on the bill, has not taken a position on the latest measure.