The $8.5 billion compromise plan for the budget year that begins July 1 is less than either side had originally wanted to spend and is projected to provide the state with a $250 million surplus.

A panel of Republican and Democratic lawmakers reached an agreement late Friday that will restore funding for key projects in Gov. Bill Haslam's more than $31 billion spending plan.

The state's General Fund, which funds most noneducation programs in the state, gets very little sales tax revenue. It faces a cut of more than $342 million, a 20 percent reduction, in the 2013 budget.

The budget bill approved by the House includes virtually everything that Haslam wanted, along with some additions.

Lawmakers are weighing whether to use Louisiana's "rainy day" fund to help fill a $211 million gap in this year's budget.

Leaders mum on details; vote could come soon.

After waiting for more than two years, state lawmakers say they are now ready to consider reforms for the five public employee retirement systems that cover 1.7 million Ohio workers, retirees and beneficiaries.

With state revenues slowing to a trickle as the end of April draws near, the state's top fiscal analyst said that California could be "a few billion dollars" shy of Gov. Jerry Brown's budget projections through June 2013.

Around midnight Wednesday, House members voted 150-4 to approve the spending plan for fiscal 2013, with four Republicans dissenting.

Teacher and public-employee pensions are in the news nationwide, and Michigan's are not unique. Across the country, pension funds are suffering from the same confluence of factors, including rising health-care costs, falling returns on investment, lax oversight and more.