An increase in jobs the past 12 months will bolster state income tax receipts.

Reflecting increased state tax revenues in recent months due to an improving economy, the bill provides $50 million for the Accountability Block Grants used by school districts for kindergarten and pre-school programs. The accountability grants were zeroed out in Corbett's proposal.

Alabama's legislators are scrambling this week to come up with a funding solution that would allow them to appropriate an additional $200 million to Medicaid in the FY2013 budget.

Pension reform is a separate issue from amortization. These two issues have been conflated by those invoking the GASB proviso for closed DB plans, but this has only sown confusion. This is clearly demonstrated when the reform is structured with amortization payments on total payroll. In this way, the growth in the base for amortization payments is unaffected by the reform, so there is no policy reason for changing the schedule of these payments. The funding schedule for amortization is a red herring, irrelevant to the fundamental policy decision for pension reform. Amortization pays for past debts; pension reform lays a path toward a responsible future.

Highways do not - and, except for brief periods in our nation's history - never have paid for themselves through the taxes that highway advocates label "user fees." To have a meaningful national debate over transportation policy-particularly at a time of tight public budgets-it is impor- tant to get past the myths and address the real, difficult choices America must make for the 21st century.

SBS President Bob Williams strongly encourages you to read "GASB Won't Let Me" - A False Objection to Public Pension Reform, a report released by the Laura and John Arnold Foundation found here. The report explains that switching to a defined contribution pension system does not raise costs. Bob's statement applauding the report can be found here.

The state House of Representatives approved a $20.5 billion budget deal early Tuesday that would increase spending by $143 million in the next fiscal year, address a growing deficit and boost aid to cities and towns.

In all, the Legislature approved more than $1.67 billion in spending, in areas as diverse as higher education, prisons, economic development and agriculture. The total budget for the new year is expected to come in at $6.24 billion.

Gov. Jan Brewer signed into law an $8.6 billion budget for next fiscal year that includes increases for certain education, public-safety and health programs but also puts $450 million into a "rainy-day fund."

A map and chart ranking Medicaid spending for each of the 50 states in FY2010.