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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

"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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

"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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Gov. Mary Fallin wanted to consolidate Oklahoma's half-dozen employee pension funds, but did not happen this year.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Washington’s financial management system does not efficiently meet agency or state needs because of fragmented, outmoded technology.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

The 2013 Spring Task Force Summit will be held May 2-3 in Oklahoma City, OK.

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.