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HEADLINES : SOUTH CAROLINA
State Pension Performance, Fees at Heart of South Carolina Feud
Since South Carolina Treasurer Curtis Loftis took office more than two years ago and has made it his mission to overhaul the state investment commission that oversees the state's pension fund.
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HEADLINES : TEXAS
Are lawmakers playing "chicken" with state budget?
Lawmakers still haven't been able to pass a state budget, even though they've already shaken hands on the deal. The hold up is with Senate Joint Resolution One which would ask voters to approve the creation of a state fund dedicated to water infrastructure projects.
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HEADLINES : MASSACHUSETTS
Mass. Senate to begin debating state budget plan
The Senate plan and a budget passed by the House last month both include $500 million in new revenue, including hikes in gasoline and cigarette taxes.
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HEADLINES : MICHIGAN
Gov, GOP reach deal on surplus
Gov. Rick Snyder and Republican legislative leaders reached an agreement Tuesday on how to divvy up nearly $702 million in surplus revenue as lawmakers race to complete the 2014 fiscal year budget by June 1.
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HEADLINES : NEBRASKA
Omaha think tank: State, city underestimating pension liabilities
According to the report, it's unreasonable for public pension plans to assume an 8-percent rate of return when many economists project lower returns in the future.
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HEADLINES : NORTH CAROLINA
Senate leaders: 'Medicaid is driving' state budget
The single largest increase by far in the Senate budget plan is an additional $584 million dollars plowed into Medicaid in the upcoming year. Next year, the increase will be $796 million.
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HEADLINES : ILLINOIS
Gov. Quinn: Illinois Has Chance To Make History
"There's nothing more that government can do to help jobs and economic growth than for the Legislature to put a comprehensive public pension bill on my desk by the end of this month," Gov. Pat Quinn said.
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HEADLINES : TEXAS
Texas budget deal struck, but will Perry approve?
House and Senate negotiators settled Friday on a roughly $100 billion state budget. It would reverse most of the historic spending cuts that socked Texas classrooms in 2011, give state employees a modest raise and still afford Republicans the political cover of not busting a cap on state spending.
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HEADLINES : LOUISIANA
State budget, school funding are top issues
Members of the Senate Finance Committee Thursday immediately started poking holes in a $25 billion state spending plan the House of Representatives approved last week.
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HEADLINES : FLORIDA
Gov. Scott vetoes hundreds of millions from state budget
Scott's extensive veto list is more than twice as large as his list last year, and his largest since his first year in office. It slashed state spending from $74.5 billion to $74.1 billion.
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HEADLINES : ILLINOIS
State universities, colleges agree to slowly pick up pension costs
A plan to gradually shift ongoing pension costs to state universities and community colleges surfaced in the Illinois House Thursday and could be the model for shifting pension costs for K-12 schools.
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HEADLINES : OHIO
State pension fund leaders fire back at Mandel
Dissatisfied with state pension reforms enacted last year that affect 1.8 million current and former government workers, Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel says without more changes "there will be nothing left at the end of the rainbow" when public employees retire.
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HEADLINES : FLORIDA
Education Budget "Turkeys" Include College Buildings, Charter School Database
"What we're looking for is that they followed the established budget processes, that the things that were funded were subject to public scrutiny," said TaxWatch's Robert Weissert.
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HEADLINES : ARIZONA
Arizona Senate begins moving budget bills, could pass within days of introduction
The Arizona Senate began a final sprint to adjournment Wednesday as a committee debated 10 bills that provide $8.8 billion to fund education, health and welfare, and expansion of Medicaid.
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HEADLINES : MASSACHUSETTS
Mass. senators unveil $34B state budget proposal
The Senate Ways and Means Committee released a nearly $34 billion state budget proposal, a spending plan significantly less than the plan Gov. Deval Patrick unveiled earlier this year.
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HEADLINES : TEXAS
State budget negotiators meeting. Is there a deal?
Even though the GOP has a legislative majority, leaders need Democratic support to take money for water from the state's rainy day fund because it requires a two-thirds vote.
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HEADLINES
Medicaid needs to be fixed before it is expanded
Find the latest coverage on state expansion of Medicaid and why SBS President Bob Williams believes expansion it is not the optimal way to ensure the best medical care for states' neediest citizens.
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HEADLINES : CALIFORNIA
Jerry Brown 'aiming low' on pay for state employees
During a press conference this morning to tout his latest state budget plan, Gov. Jerry Brown said that he wants to hold down state payroll costs as his administration bargains new pacts with nearly a dozen unions.
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HEADLINES : OKLAHOMA
OK governor vetoes pension reform bill
Gov. Mary Fallin wanted to consolidate Oklahoma's half-dozen employee pension funds, but did not happen this year.
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HEADLINES : TEXAS
Committee Still Debating Spending Issues In State Budget Bill
Sen. Tommy Williams, the chair of the Senate Finance Committee and is also on the Legislative Budget Board, said no progress can be made until both sides can agree on health and education components.
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BLOG : WASHINGTON
New Washington state budget due on June 1 under state law
While there are rumors that lawmakers may wait for the June 18 Revenue Forecast to see if the recent improvement in state economic activity can help bridge the budget divide, state law may make waiting that long a bit tricky.
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BLOG : WASHINGTON
Don't forget to include the public in the "sanctity" of budget negotiations
A few Washington state lawmakers kicked off the first 30-day Special Session yesterday to finish work on the 2013-15 operating budget. They need to come to an agreement but shouldn't forget to bring the public back into the conversation before holding votes.
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BLOG
Who is the highest paid state employee in your state?
Time to add a new diagram to the state budget and policy playbook--your state's highest paid employee is probably a football or basketball coach.
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BLOG : WASHINGTON
State Auditor releases financial management performance audit
Washington’s financial management system does not efficiently meet agency or state needs because of fragmented, outmoded technology.
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OPINION : UTAH
Financial Ready Utah: Peace in Preparedness
As part of the budget process, we need to adequately plan for the potential of reduced federal funds. This applies to everything from the legislature's budget proposals to the way that the adequacy of rainy day funds is calculated.
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BLOG
Medicaid expansion won't yield quality health care
The bombshell Oregon Medicaid study released this week should give all states pause as they consider plans to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. States must now ask what the point of Medicaid is in the first place.
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EDITORIALS : IOWA
Broader Medicaid wouldn't produce a healthier Iowa
Medicaid expansion has nothing to do with improving health care and everything to do with improving the image of politicians. A recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that expanding Medicaid will have no major positive effect on the health of Iowa residents.
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EDITORIALS : FLORIDA
Costly expansion wouldn't improve Floridians' health
The state Legislature's decision this year to reject Medicaid expansion was the correct decision for Florida. There is little evidence that growing the health-care program for the poor would improve the health of state residents.
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PRESS RELEASE : ARIZONA
Medicaid reform, not expansion, is best for Arizona
Instead of expanding a broken system, Arizona should look to proven alternatives and patient-focused reforms that lead to improved benefits and less cost for low-income Arizonians.
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PRESS RELEASE : KENTUCKY
Is Kentucky the next Illinois?
There are real pension problems mounting, and if Kentucky is not careful, they could be the next Illinois. Using 2010 market value numbers, the Bluegrass State faces a per capita unfunded liability of $10,733.
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EVENTS
ALEC Spring Task Force Summit
The 2013 Spring Task Force Summit will be held May 2-3 in Oklahoma City, OK.
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PRESS RELEASE : ALABAMA, ALASKA, ARKANSAS, ARIZONA, CALIFORNIA, COLORADO, CONNECTICUT, DELAWARE, FLORIDA, GEORGIA, HAWAII, IDAHO, ILLINOIS, INDIANA, IOWA, KANSAS, KENTUCKY, LOUISIANA, MAINE , MARYLAND, MASSACHUSETTS , MICHIGAN, MINNESOTA, MISSISSIPPI, MISSOURI, MONTANA, NEBRASKA, NEW HAMPSHIRE , NEVADA, NEW JERSEY, NEW MEXICO , NEW YORK, NORTH CAROLINA , NORTH DAKOTA, OHIO, OKLAHOMA, OREGON, PENNSYLVANIA, RHODE ISLAND, SOUTH CAROLINA, SOUTH DAKOTA, TENNESSEE, TEXAS, UTAH, VERMONT, VIRGINIA, WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, WEST VIRGINIA, WISCONSIN, WYOMING
GAO Report Shows Day of Fiscal Reckoning is Near; States Must Take Swift Action
We have long said that lawmakers' approaches to drafting state budgets only put states closer to the financial cliff, and the recent GAO report illustrates just how close states are to going over the edge.
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